ABSTRACT
A curtain, which parted from the center opened up the stage space. Opportunities arose to create the necessary scale of scenery, be it interior or landscape. The maquettes are surprisingly accurate regarding the scale and proportions of the scenes. In the maquettes Viktor Simov used a technique that creates an illusion of reality. Konstantin Stanislavsky wrote in a letter to Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko:Almost all the maquettes for “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich” are ready. V. Vasnetsov’s designs for The Snow Maiden, first staged as a play by the Mamontov Circle, later transferring as an opera with music by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov to the Private Opera House in 1885, were distinguished by a special lyricism. In Shakespearean drama, with its infinite depth of ideological and philosophical content, the stage designer’s imagination is freed, giving the widest scope for experimental staging. Nemirovich-Danchenko considered the scenery of Julius Caesar to be one of the highest achievements in Viktor Simov’s creative life.
