BY LEE SIMONSON Kent State University this reputation has overshadowed a greater theatrical talent which I believe has never been sufficiently recognized_ Lee Simonson was a superb costume designer. I was made aware of th is fact over a decade ago when for a brief interval I became custodian of many of Simonson's original designs which he created during his illustrious career. There were dozens and dozens of magnificent plates, and viewed as a group, it became immediately apparent that here was the work of a truly great talent. During his career Simonson designed hundreds of imaginative and dramatic costumes. What was also THE CLERGYMAN Harvard Theatre Collection apparent was the fact that Lee Simonson's talent as a costume designer were far superior to those of a scene designer. There is a ragged uneveness that prevails in Lee's stage settings that is never present in his costume designs. l For some inexplicable reason this excellent talent of Simonson has been consistently overlooked by critics of American theatrical art. One may recall the critical acclaim that critics heaped upon his colleague Norman Bel Geddes years ago for the hundreds of costumes Bel Geddes created for Max Reinhardt's American production of The Miracle in 1922 and the rave reviews Robert Edmond "Also see Simonson's section on theatre architecture in ARCHIĀ· TECTURE FOR THE NEW THEATRE, edited by Edith J. R. Isaacs, Theatre Arts Books, New York, 1935. ED. THE FINANCIER Harvard Theatre Collection THE COLLEGE PROFESSOR Harvard Theatre Collection THE BOURGEOIS ~ THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY FEBRUARY. 1973 7