Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin was an outstanding Russian playwright, philosopher, and translator, one of the most original representatives of Russian realism, and an honorary academician of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Born in 1817 in the Moscow Governorate into a wealthy noble family, he was educated at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University, and later advanced his knowledge of natural sciences and philosophy in Heidelberg and Berlin. Sukhovo-Kobylin's theatrical fate was dramatic: he wrote his first and most famous play, "Krechinsky's Wedding", between 1850 and 1854 while under investigation. In 1856, the comedy was staged at the Maly Theatre in a benefit performance for the actor Sergei Shumsky and instantly became one of the most frequently performed plays on the Russian stage, with its catchphrases firmly entering everyday speech. Later, the playwright created the plays “The Case” (1861) and “The Death of Tarelkin” (1869), which, together with “Krechinsky's Wedding”, were included in the dramatic trilogy “Pictures of the Past” (published in 1869). These works were distinguished by dark grotesque and sharp satire of the bureaucratic system, which is why they were subjected to censorship bans for a long time. The full trilogy was staged for the first time in 1917 by director Vsevolod Meyerhold. The Bakhrushin Theatre Museum's online collection features costume and scenery designs for performances based on the works of Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin (including Varvara Stepanova's designs for the "The Death of Tarelkin" at the Free Workshop of Vsevolod Meyerhold), photographs of actors in their roles, archival documents, playbills, programs, and other materials.