Lee Simonson didn’t just design sets. He broke the mold of American theater.
Born in New York City in 1888, Simonson grew up watching the stage get stuck in a rut. Traditional realism reigned supreme. Elaborate illusions of real rooms. Heavy drapes. Painted backdrops that tried too hard to look like actual life. Simonson had none of that patience.
He studied at Harvard. Then Paris. He saw how other cultures approached performance. He came back to New York with a plan to strip away the fake.
In 1915, he started designing for the Washington Square Players. It was a gritty, experimental group. Not the polished Broadway of later years. This was raw. Real. And it fit Simonson’s style perfectly.
Four years later, he co-founded the Theatre Guild. He sat on the board from 1919 to 1940. During those three decades, he designed sets for over 75 productions. Many of those were Guild-sponsored. He didn’t just show up. He shaped the visual language of American drama.
Rejecting Elaborate Illusions
How did Lee Simonson change theater design? By ignoring realism.
He used conventions. Frank, simple conventions that served the play’s meaning. Not the other way around.
Take Faithful by John Masefield in 1919. Simonson didn’t build a room. He used Japanese screens. Minimal. Evocative. It let the actors move. It let the audience imagine the rest.
Then there was Back to Methuselah by George Bernard Shaw in 1922. A massive play. Simonson projected lantern slides. No heavy furniture. No fake walls. Just light and image. It was stark. It worked.
Beyond the Stage
Simonson wasn’t just a designer. He was a jack-of-all-trades for the arts.
He was an art critic. A painter. A magazine editor. A theater consultant. He wrote books about it all.
The Stage Is Set (1932). An important essay on the theater. He explained his philosophy there. No fluff. Just practice.
Part of a Lifetime (1943). His autobiography. He looked back. He remembered the early days. The struggle against tradition.
The Art of Scenic Design (1950). A later work. But the ideas were the same. Design should serve the story. Not hide behind it.
Why It Matters Today
We still talk about Simonson. Not because he was famous in his time. Though he was. But because he changed how we see the stage.
Realism has its place. But it’s not the only way. Simonson proved that suggestion is often stronger than statement.
He died in Yonkers, New York, on January 23, 1967. The stage has moved on. But the ghost of those Japanese screens and projected slides lingers.
Next time you see a play with minimal sets. Think about him. Think about the freedom he gave designers. And the actors.
He didn’t build walls. He built possibilities.
And that’s still the best way to start a show
