Simov, Viktor Andreyevich

1858

1935

Simov was a Russian painter, designer and theatre set designer. He joined the Moscow Art Theatre at its inception in 1898. He was chief designer until 1912 when he joined the Svobodny (free) Theatre, but returned to MAT in 1925 and remained there until his death. He designed many key MAT productions including Aleksei Tolstoy's ‘Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich’ (1898) and four Chekhov productions (1898–1904). He worked closely with Stanislavski and initiated the practice of field research, visiting a Moscow lodging house for Gorky’s ‘The Lower Depths’ (1902) and Rome for ‘Julius Caesar’ (1903). He pioneered the use of naturalistic settings and brought historical accuracy and authenticity to Russian stage design.