Ladyzhensky was trained as a stage designer, and he painted theater scenery throughout the 1930s. His professional theater work informed his choice of medium – tempera paint – and his approach to imagery and color. The theater was also, as shown here, a favored subject to paint.

These paintings are specific and illustrative of cultural life in Odessa in the 1920s, in the midst of the Bolshevik Revolution. The Movies Come to Town depicts the filming of a scene from the 1925 film Jewish Luck on the Odessa Steps – a moment Ladyzhensky may have seen first-hand.

Bandura-Players Have Come to the School depicts musicians performing with a traditional Ukrainian stringed instrument. The scene is depicted from a strange, elevated and back-stage perspective – we see the spectators’ faces, but not those of the performers. In contrast, I am Syoma Alabaster—Tonight’s MC takes place from the perspective of the audience. Ladyzhensky illustrates his own changing relationship to theater performances: from audience member to stage designer.