Irakli Gamrekeli

His talent was discovered during an exhibition of his work by the leading Georgian theatre director Kote Marjanishvili, who was impressed by Gamrekeli's illustrations for Oscar Wilde's Salome.

From 1922 to 1943 Gamrekeli worked with the Rustaveli Theatre, first under Marjanishvili and later under Sandro Akhmeteli, where he designed 50 productions, including William Shakespeare's Hamlet (1925), Sandro Shanshiashvili's Anzor (1928), Friedrich Schiller's The Robbers (1933) and Shakespeare's Othello (1937).

Gamrekeli's picturesque designs, noted for their abstract geometric constructions and spacious but sparsely furnished dimensions, helped determine the monumental and heroic style characteristic of the Rustaveli Theatre.

Gamrekeli was also the art director of the films Arsena (1937) and Giorgi Saakadze (1942–1943).

Four moquettes of his set design for Werfel's Spiegelmensch (1924/25) are held at the Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung of the University of Cologne .