ABSTRACT
The period after 1909 was one during which the work of designers associated with The World of Art movement began to dominate the stage of the Art Theatre. This was a phase in its history during which Alexandre Benois became a member of the company’s directorate and acquired an influential voice in the staging of productions.1 The period was also marked by a sense of directional uncertainty. Stanislavsky’s path led him towards comedy and the past; Nemirovich continued to explore the path of tragedy and the present. These directions were marked by a seismograph of failure and success which defy obvious explanation.
