Anton Chekhov

A striking version of Chekhov's classic play, by Charlotte Pyke, John Kerr and Joseph Blatchley, restoring to the play the cuts demanded by the Russian censor in 1896. In nineteenth-century rural Russia, an anxious young writer prepares the first performance of his new play for the two women in his life. The consequences are devastating, with everybody in love with the wrong person, and death hovering close by. Through both comedy and tragedy, Seagull explores lives that are precariously balanced between love and indifference, success and failure, hope and despair. This version of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull was first performed at the Arcola Theatre, London, in 2011.

Hear what I have to say about the cherry orchard, because it is mine. I say bring it down, tear it down. Smash it down and tear it down. Watch, watch. Just you watch. I will build holiday villas, as far as the eye can see. I will build a place for everyone to come and enjoy. For the future. And this will be the future. A new life. A new way of life. Here! Come now and play. Play. Play! Get the band to play. Ranyevskaya returns more or less bankrupt after ten years abroad. Luxuriating in her fading moneyed world and regardless of the increasingly hostile forces outside, she and her brother snub the lucrative scheme of Lopakhin, a peasant turned entrepreneur, to save the family estate. In so doing, they put up their lives to auction and seal the fate of the beloved orchard. Set at the very start of the twentieth century, The Cherry Orchard captures a poignant moment in Russia's history as the country rolls inexorably towards 1917. The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov in a version by Andrew Upton, premiered at the National Theatre, London, in May 2011.

A timeless observation of the human condition from one of the best story writers in the history of world literature. Chekhov's characteristic mix of humour and poignancy united by the themes of truth, freedom, happiness and love in the 14 story collection presented in this book. Chekhov himself described his work as comic satire: 'All I wanted was to say honestly to people: 'Have a look at yourselves and see how bad and dreary your lives are!' The important thing is that people should realize that, for when they do, they will most certainly create another and better life for themselves. I will not live to see it, but I know that it will be quite different, quite unlike our present life.' 'Happiness does not exist and should not exist. And if there is purpose in life, this purpose should not be our personal happiness, it should be about something more intelligent, something more divine', commented Leo Tolstoy after reading Chekhov's trilogy included in this book. Where does love come from? How far questions of personal happiness are of consequence in love? Each story in this collection brings us close Chekhov's vision and understanding of complex human relationships. Chekhov's own relationship with Miss Avilova formed the basis for his story About Love. Miss Avilova compared Chekhov with 'busy bee who flies about and is happy to collect honey from just about anything on its way' upon publication of this story and Chekhov quickly responded to Miss Avilova, 'You are being unkind towards your busy bee. The bee first sees bright beautiful flowers and only then collects honey from them'.

Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price Set in a country weighed down by political, ideological and spiritual stagnation, Chekhov's compelling early play is rooted in the revolutionary atmosphere of Russia at the turn of the 20th century. Anton Chekhov's play Ivanov was first performed in 1887 at the Korsh Theatre in Moscow. This English version, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is translated and introduced by Stephen Mulrine, with notes on Further Reading, a Chronology and a Pronunciation Guide.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904) overturned the dramatic conventions of his day and laid the groundwork for contemporary approaches to directing and acting. Now, for the first time, the full lyricism, humor, and pathos of his greatest plays are available to an English-speaking audience. Marina Brodskaya's new translations of Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard not only surpass in accuracy all previous translations, but also provide the first complete English text of the plays, restoring passages entirely omitted by her predecessors. This much-needed volume renders Chekhov in language that will move readers and theater audiences alike, making accessible his wordplay, unstated implications, and innovations. His characters' vulnerabilities, needs, and neuroses—their humanity—emerge through their genuine, self-absorbed conversations. The plays come to life as never before and will surprise readers with their vivacity, originality, and relevance.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904) overturned the dramatic conventions of his day and laid the groundwork for contemporary approaches to directing and acting. Now, for the first time, the full lyricism, humor, and pathos of his greatest plays are available to an English-speaking audience. Marina Brodskaya's new translations of Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard not only surpass in accuracy all previous translations, but also provide the first complete English text of the plays, restoring passages entirely omitted by her predecessors. This much-needed volume renders Chekhov in language that will move readers and theater audiences alike, making accessible his wordplay, unstated implications, and innovations. His characters' vulnerabilities, needs, and neuroses—their humanity—emerge through their genuine, self-absorbed conversations. The plays come to life as never before and will surprise readers with their vivacity, originality, and relevance.

Drawn from Sharon Marie Carnicke's volume of "Chekhov, Four Plays and Three Jokes" (Hackett), this title features Carnicke's translation of a play that has been called 'Chekhov's ultimate theatrical coup d'etat'.

Drawn from Sharon Marie Carnicke's volume of "Chekhov, Four Plays and Three Jokes" (Hackett), this title features Carnicke's translation of a play that has been called 'Chekhov's ultimate theatrical coup d'etat'.

The study of Naturalist theatre remains a staple and often foundational part of the curriculum at all levels of drama education. This anthology of six of the most commonly studied and revived Naturalist plays from the European repertoire offers a unique compendium that will serve as required reading for drama courses and is ideal for theatre practitioners and fans. The selected plays perfectly reflect the formal and geographical diversity of Naturalist theatre as well as its major philosophical, political and theatrical preoccupations. A critical introduction by Dr Chris Megson contextualises the emergence of Naturalist theatre in the late nineteenth century, identifying its principal aims and methods; provides an analysis of the selected plays, mapping their key preoccupations, and ends by considering Naturalism's enduring legacy and resonance today.

Anton Chekhov is a unique force in modern drama, his works cherished for their brilliant wit and insight into the human condition. In this stunning new translation of one of Chekhov’s most popular and beloved plays, Laurence Senelick presents a fresh perspective on the master playwright and his groundbreaking dramas. He brings this timeless trial of art and love to life as memorable characters have clashing desires and lose balance in the shifting eruptions of society and a modernizing Russia. Supplementing the play is an account of Chekhov’s life; a note on the translation; an introduction to the work; and variant lines, often removed due to government censorship, which illuminate the context in which they were written. This edition is the perfect guide to enriching our understanding of this great dramatist or to staging a production.

Anton Chekhov is a unique force in modern drama, his works cherished for their brilliant wit and insight into the human condition. In this stunning new translation of one of Chekhov’s most popular and beloved plays, Laurence Senelick presents a fresh perspective on the master playwright and his groundbreaking dramas. He brings this timeless trial of art and love to life as memorable characters have clashing desires and lose balance in the shifting eruptions of society and a modernizing Russia. Supplementing the play is an account of Chekhov’s life; a note on the translation; an introduction to the work; and variant lines, often removed due to government censorship, which illuminate the context in which they were written. This edition is the perfect guide to enriching our understanding of this great dramatist or to staging a production.

Anton Chekhov is a unique force in modern drama, his works cherished for their brilliant wit and insight into the human condition. In this stunning new translation of one of Chekhov’s most popular and beloved plays, Laurence Senelick presents a fresh perspective on the master playwright and his groundbreaking dramas. He brings this timeless trial of art and love to life as memorable characters have clashing desires and lose balance in the shifting eruptions of society and a modernizing Russia. Supplementing the play is an account of Chekhov’s life; a note on the translation; an introduction to the work; and variant lines, often removed due to government censorship, which illuminate the context in which they were written. This edition is the perfect guide to enriching our understanding of this great dramatist or to staging a production.

This volume offers lively and accurate translations of Chekhov's major plays and one-acts (complete contents listed below) along with a superb Introduction focused on the plays' remarkably enduring power to elicit the most widely divergent of responses, the life of the playwright in its historical and aesthetic contexts, suggestions for reading the plays under a microscope, and notes designed to bring Chekhov's world into immediate focus--everything needed to examine his drama with fresh eyes and on its own artistic terms.

The contemporary short-story is unimaginable without Anton Chekhov. He stripped the story of many of the features that had seemed essential to nineteenth-century readers: plot, narrative tension, and denouement. Terms such as “slices of life” and “sketches” are used to highlight the fact that often very little happens in Chekhov’s short stories. What is left unsaid reveals as much or more than what is said. The result is a sparse and atmospheric work that has less in common with that other major fictional form—the novel—than it does with the lyric poem. The creation of this new literary form enables Chekhov to express some of the most penetrating psychological insights in modern literature and to share with readers a gentle and compassionate view of humanity.

The first of Chekhov's works to be published in a serious literary journal, `The Steppe', with its masterly account of a spectacular thunderstorm, signifies his maturation as a writer of short stories. While the majority of his tales focus on the privileged classes, this selection shows that Chekhov never forgot his origins as the son of a failed provincial grocer, and characters as varied as the brutal soldier in `Gusev', the downtrodden old constable in `On Official Business', and the bemused peasants in `New Villa' testify to the power and flexibility of his art. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Liubov Ranevskya, a widowed landowner returns home more or less insolvent after five years abroad. Everything appears just as she remembers, but hers is a diminishing world. Her vast and beautiful cherry orchard is soon to be sold off against her mounting debts. The insistent warnings of Lopakhin, a peasant's son turned wealthy businessman, go unheeded, and more than the family estate is sacrificed as Trofimov, the 'eternal student' who hopes to inherit the future, tells her, "The whole of Russia is our orchard". Tom Stoppard's adaptation of Chekhov's last play is a poignant snapshot of the great, slow-rolling change that came to a head with the Russian revolution in 1917. Tom Stoppard's English version of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard had its first New York performance at the Harvey Theater, Brooklyn in January 2009, and its first London performance at the Old Vic Theatre in May 2009.

Anton Chekhov was a master whose daring work revolutionized theater, and this was as true of Ivanov, his first full-length play, as of The Cherry Orchard, his last. Building on the success of his acclaimed adaptation of The Seagull, Tom Stoppard returns to Chekhov and the themes of bitter social satire, personal introspection, and the electrifying atmosphere of Russia on the brink of change. In these two new versions, Stoppard brings his crisp and nimble style to two masterpieces of the modern theater. Ivanov is a portrait of a man plagued with self-doubt and despair. Considered one of Chekhov’s most elusive characters, he seeks more in life than the selfabsorption and ennui he sees in his contemporaries. Tormented by falling out of love with his dying Jewish wife, Ivanov, on her death, proposes to the young daughter of his neighbor, but, as the wedding party assembles, a final burst of his habitual indecisivness has fatal results.

A fresh take on a classic by the Tony Award-winning playwright of The Humans"Mr. Karam's plays aren't tearful, but they are often about loss-of love, of health, of innocence-and the messy, haphazard, necessary ways we get on with our lives afterward... He specializes in painful comedies that really shouldn't be as funny as they are. Karam is a mature writer, very much in command of his gifts." -New York Times"Stephen Karam is among the very best of his generation of playwrights." -New York Magazine"The more you see Anton Chekhov's final play, the weirder it seems... The Cherry Orchard contains distinctly bizarre touches: unexplained offstage noises, ominous portents of revolution, and a morbid ending that's nearly Beckettian... Adapter Stephen Karam layers American accents (racial and immigration anxieties) into his lean, accessible script." -Time Out New YorkStephen Karam is known for his dedication to exploring the idiosyncrasies of human speech and behavior-the subtleties, the depth, and the wonderfully awkward minutiae. With this new adaptation of The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov's canonical masterpiece about a family on the brink of bankruptcy, Karam's fluid style pairs harmoniously with the work of the master playwright. Stephen Karam is the author of two plays that were named finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama: The Humans in 2016 and Sons of the Prophet in 2012. The Humans won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play. His other work includes the play Speech & Debate and a film adaptation of Chekhov's The Seagull for Sony Pictures Classics.