In 1929, the theatrical space in the Eliseev House was given to the young Satire Theater under the leadership of Gutman. Two years later, the Satire Theater was merged with the "Comedy" theater. By 1935, the theater was already called the Leningrad Comedy Theater, headed by the outstanding director and artist Akimov, whose arrival marked a new chapter in the theater's life. Akimov began collaborating with Yevgeny Schwartz, who, by general consensus, became the "soul of the theater." Performances based on Schwartz's plays "The Shadow" and "The Dragon" laid the foundation for a new stage genre – the philosophical fairy tale for adults.

"After a long search for a theme for an 'adult' play (during which time Schwartz wrote several plays for children), I suggested to Schwartz to continue the experiment of turning to Andersen and take a short fairy tale — 'The Shadow,' which I had always loved very much.

About ten days after this conversation, he read the first act — written in a burst and almost without revisions — the most brilliant part of this play.

Finishing the work — the second and third acts — took many months. This marked the beginning of our ongoing dispute with Schwartz. He categorically refused to make a preliminary plan of the play, saying that it constrained him and took away his taste for work, that this was a French method, and he was a Russian playwright. He accused me of favoring the French, and the French of eating frogs! And no matter how right he was in his position — he always had enough free flight of unplanned imagination for the first acts, which indeed turned out wonderfully, after which compositional struggles invariably began, in which both the theater and the director had to participate as much as possible."

From 1930 until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Schwartz worked very productively. In 1931, he wrote the screenplay for the film "Commodity 717." The following year, he published the play "Trifles." In 1934, the plays "The Princess and the Swineherd," "The Naked King," and "The Treasure" were written one after another, as well as the screenplay for the film "Wake Up, Lenochka." Besides this, in 1934 Schwartz became a member of the USSR Writers' Union. In 1936 — the play "Little Red Riding Hood" and the screenplays "Lenochka and the Grapes" and "On Vacation."

The following year, the fairy tale "New Adventures of Puss in Boots" appeared in a magazine. In 1939, Schwartz wrote the plays "The Snow Queen," which was adapted into a film in 1966, and "Puppet City." The next year, Yevgeny Lvovich completed the play "The Shadow," which became the second part of a trilogy of satirical plays, which also includes "The Naked King" (1934) and "The Dragon" (1942-1943). Film adaptations of "The Shadow" were released in 1971 and 1991. In 1940, the writer's father passed away.

But still, in 1940, "The Shadow" appeared on the stage of the Comedy Theater and was immediately recognized by both audiences and critics, beginning its long life on the world stage."

https://museum-xxvek.ru/litmap_4050