Chekhov and the Vaudeville

Chekhov and the Vaudeville

Author: Vera Gottlieb

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1982-08-05

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 0521241707

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This book examines the strangely neglected area of Chekhov's one-act plays, written between 1885 and 1903. Still frequently performed, they reveal many of the comic and distancing effects which are to be found in the major plays and tell us as much about Chekhov's philosophy as his use of theatre.


Chekhov on the British Stage

Chekhov on the British Stage

Author: Patrick Miles

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1993-05-06

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 9780521384674

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This is the first book to consider the whole subject of Chekhov's impact on the British stage. Recently Chekhov's plays have come to occupy a place in the British classical repertoire second only to Shakespeare. The British, American and Russian authors of these essays examine this phenomenon both historically and synchronically. First they discuss why Chekhov's plays were so slow to find an audience in Britain, what the early productions were really like, and how Bernard Shaw, Peggy Ashcroft, the Moscow Art Theatre and politics influenced the British style of Chekhov. They then address the often controversial issues of directing, acting, designing and translating Chekhov in Britain today. The volume concludes with a selective chronology of British productions of Chekhov's plays and will be of interest to students and scholars of the theatre, as well as theatre-goers, theatre-practitioners and Russianists.


The Cambridge Companion to Chekhov

The Cambridge Companion to Chekhov

Author: Vera Gottlieb

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2000-11-04

Total Pages: 436

ISBN-13: 1139825658

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This volume of specially commissioned essays explores the world of Anton Chekhov - one of the most important dramatists in the repertoire - and the creation, performance and interpretation of his works. The Companion, first published in 2000, begins with an examination of Chekhov's life, his Russia, and the original productions of his plays at the Moscow Art Theatre. Later film versions and adaptations of Chekhov's works are analysed, with valuable insights also offered on acting Chekhov, by Ian McKellen, and directing Chekhov, by Trevor Nunn and Leonid Heifetz. The volume also provides essays on 'special topics' such as Chekhov as writer, Chekhov and women, and the Chekhov comedies and stories. Key plays, such as The Cherry Orchard and The Seagull, receive dedicated chapters while lesser-known works and genres are also brought to light. The volume concludes with appendices of primary sources, lists of works, and a select bibliography.


The Sneeze

The Sneeze

Author: Michael Frayn

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-03-23

Total Pages: 115

ISBN-13: 1350013447

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Comprising four one-act comic vaudevilles and four short stories adapted for the stage by Michael Frayn, The Sneeze introduces readers to a less familiar selection of work by one of the greatest precursors of modern drama. First published in 1989, this reissue includes The Sneeze; The Alien Corn; The Bear; The Evils of Tobacco; The Inspector-General; Swan Song; The Prospect, and Plots. Michael Frayn's translations of Chekhov's work marry the expertise of the translator with the innate understanding of a master dramatist and are widely regarded as the truest, most authentic renderings of Chekhov's work: 'His keen imaginative sympathy with the great Russian dramatist extends beyond translation . . . But translation is an art at which he excels.' Spectator


Interpreting Chekhov

Interpreting Chekhov

Author: Geoffrey Borny

Publisher: ANU E Press

Published: 2006-08-01

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 1920942688

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The author's contention is that Chekhov's plays have often been misinterpreted by scholars and directors, particularly through their failure to adequately balance the comic and tragic elements inherent in these works. Through a close examination of the form and content of Chekhov's dramas, the author shows how deeply pessimistic or overly optimistic interpretations fail to sufficiently account for the rich complexity and ambiguity of these plays. The author suggests that, by accepting that Chekhov's plays are synthetic tragi-comedies which juxtapose potentially tragic sub-texts with essentially comic texts, critics and directors are more likely to produce richer and more deeply satisfying interpretations of these works. Besides being of general interest to any reader interested in understanding Chekhov's work, the book is intended to be of particular interest to students of Drama and Theatre Studies and to potential directors of these subtle plays.


Understanding Chekhov

Understanding Chekhov

Author: Donald Rayfield

Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780299163143

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Of all Russian writers, Chekhov is one of the best liked and most easily appreciated. Yet because his work is subtle and understated, we need help to understand him. Chekhov can be (as his friends complained) the most elusive of writers, and one who appears capable of having two opposite views and opposite intentions simultaneously. Donald Rayfield, one of the world's foremost Chekhov scholars, reveals the layers of meaning on which the stories and plays are built. All Chekhov's important works are studied: we see how closely the two genres are connected and gain insight into Chekhov's rapid development over his brief twenty years of creative life, from medical student supplementing his income by writing comic stories, to father of twentieth-century drama and narrative prose.


Chekhov

Chekhov

Author: Philip Callow

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 1566633958

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A major achievement--Callow examines Chekhov's life within the context of the evolution of his art, making the reader acutely aware of the hidden ground from which his work sprang and on which his life stood. A beautifully written biography by a novelist, poet, and biographer.


Russian Tragifarce

Russian Tragifarce

Author: Julia Listengarten

Publisher: Susquehanna University Press

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 9781575910338

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"The tradition of Russian tragifarce can be characterized by its strong links to Russian political and cultural history and by its significant role in the development of Russian dramatic literature and theater practice. The book argues that the dualistic character of Russian tragifarce, which is close in spirit and philosophy to Bakhtin's understanding of the medieval carnival, embodies the ambivalent spirit of Russian culture and politics. The book further argues that the tragifarcical perception of the world can be seen as a national characteristic of the self-doubting and ironic Russian sensibility under the influence of a repressive political regime."--BOOK JACKET.