Nikolay Akimov

Nikolay Pavlovich Akimov was a Soviet experimental theatre director and scenic designer noted for his work with the Leningrad Comedy Theatre. His most notorious production was the cynical version of Hamlet (1932), with Ophelia as a drunken prostitute and the king's ghost as a clever mystification arranged by Hamlet. Akimov, who was the Comedy Theater director in 1935-1949 and 1956-1968, wrote several books, among them About Theater and Not Just About Theater, and was designated a People's Artist of the USSR in 1960.