Anton Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author and considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Chekhov practised as a doctor throughout most of his literary career: "Medicine is my lawful wife", he once said, "and literature is my mistress." Chekhov renounced the theatre after the disastrous reception of The Seagull in 1896, but the play was revived to acclaim in 1898 by Constantin Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre, which subsequently also produced Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and premiered his last two plays, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. These four works present a challenge to the acting ensemble as well as to audiences, because in place of conventional action Chekhov offers a "theatre of mood" and a "submerged life in the text." Chekhov had at first written stories only for financial gain, but as his artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations which have influenced the evolution of the modern short story. His originality consists in an early use of the stream-of-consciousness technique, later adopted by James Joyce and other modernists, combined with a disavowal of the moral finality of traditional story structure. He made no apologies for the difficulties this posed to readers, insisting that the role of an artist was to ask questions, not to answer them.
Many thanks to Bob and Peter P for contributions to this page.
PlaysWild Honey (Platonov). The story takes place in a provincial country estate where the widowed landowner returns for the summer after spending the winter months in Moscow. All the local friends and hangers-on gather to greet her, including among others two elderly suitors, the district doctor, and Platonov (the schoolteacher) and his wife. The widow wants to have an affair with Platonov--in fact, three women, one of them married, vie for Platonov’s attention; while Platonov, for the most part, tries to remain faithful to his wife.
Ivanov. Nikolai Ivanov is a man struggling to regain his former glory. For the past five years, he has been married to Anna Petrovna, a disinherited 'jewess', who has become very ill. Ivanov's estate is run by a distant relative, Mikhail Borkin, who is frequently advising people on how he can help them make money. The doctor, Lvov, an 'honest' man as he frequently reminds everyone, informs Ivanov that his wife is dying of Tuberculosis, and that she needs to recover by going to the Crimea. Unfortunately, Ivanov is unable, and unwilling, to pay for the trip. He is heavily in debt and already owes Zeenaeda Saveshna 9000 roubles. Ivanov is criticised for heartlessness and for spending time with the Lyebedevs instead of his seriously ill wife.
Uncle Vanya portrays the visit of an elderly Professor and his glamorous, much younger second wife, Elena, to the rural estate that supports their urban lifestyle. Two friends, Vanya, brother of the Professor's late first wife, who has long managed the estate, and Astrov, the local Doctor, both fall under Elena's spell, while bemoaning the ennui of their provincial existence. Sonya, the Professor's daughter by his first wife, who has worked with Vanya to keep the estate going, meanwhile suffers from the awareness of her own lack of beauty and from her unrequited feelings for Dr. Astrov. Matters are brought to a crisis when the Professor announces his intention to sell the estate, Vanya and Sonya's home and raison d'être, with a view to investing the proceeds to achieve a higher income for himself and his wife.
(Version 1BBC 2010)
(Version2 Chichester festival 1963 With Laurence Olivier)
The Seagull. Inspired by a real-life incident of the death of a sea gull, this is hailed as the best written play by Chekov, The Sea Gull tells a poignant love story centred on literary nonentity Konstantin's tragic quest for a burgeoning actress Nina. Swirling around the country estate are characters who reflect Konstantin's pain and suffering in their own harshly realistic ways. In this famed play, Chekov introduces a brand new form of literature as to emphasise characters other than plot. Instead of placing characters beneath a steady frame, Chekov lets his characters guide the subtle movement of the sad tale of devastated dreams and hopes. The dying sea gull symbolises the emptiness of defeat and further stressing the beauty of life. The fullness of being simply alive comes beaming with power and touches life.
(Version 1 BBC Third Programme 1968-02-13)
(Version 2 BBC World Service (contemporary adaptation)
(Version 3 BBC World Service Globe Theatre 1987-04-18 with Anna Massey)
(Version 4 BBC 2010 with Redmond with Siobhan Redmond )
The Cherry Orchard. Sarah Miles, Nicholas Le Prevost and Anne-Marie Duff are among the stars in this new production of Chekhov's last play, The Cherry Orchard. Considered by many to be Chekhov's finest work, The Cherry Orchard is a timeless tragi-comedy. It deals with the decline of the Russian aristocracy after the emancipation of the serfs and delivers truths about all societies in times of transition. Using a new translation by Sasha Dugdale from the original Russian text, the production attempts to provide a fresh reconnection to Chekhov's original and remain true to the author's conviction that, as well as heart-breaking drama, this is a delightful comedy. In fact, Chekhov's much-debated demands for a mingling of comedy in the high-tragedy of the play were what Constantin Stanislavski – the play's first director – stamped his production with, and what led to the play's reputation and popular success. The play is set at the end of the 19th century, in rural Russia, where an impoverished aristocratic family refuse to take the necessary steps to prevent their estate and beloved cherry orchard from going under the hammer. It is bought by a local self-made businessman, the son of a serf made good, who plans to demolish the house and turn the cherry orchard into tiny allotments which will be let as dachas (summer cottages).
(Version 1 by the L.A Theater Works)
(Version 2 BBC 2008)
Three Sisters. Three Sisters is a naturalistic play about the decay of the privileged class in Russia and the search for meaning in the modern world. It describes the lives and aspirations of the Prozorov family, the three sisters (Olga, Masha, and Irina) and their brother Andrei.
They are a family dissatisfied and frustrated with their present existence. The sisters are refined and cultured young women who grew up in urban Moscow; however for the past eleven years they have been living in a small provincial town. Moscow is a major symbolic element: the sisters are always dreaming of it and constantly express their desire to return. They identify Moscow with their happiness, and thus to them it represents the perfect life.
(Version 1 CBC Adaptation)
(Version 2 BBC Radio 3)
Short Stories
Disappointment. (R) A series of readings by Ewen McGregor. Chekhov wrote over four hundred short stories. Although many of them display the same bleak view of the world as do his plays, others are infused with wit. They all offer sublime insights not only into life in Russia at the end of the Nineteenth Century, but into the human condition generally.
His (The) Wife. A wicked picture of a relationship of convenience.
The Bet. A wager struck between a banker and a lawyer has profound repercussions on both their lives.
The Beauty (The Beauties). A meditation on the nature and effect of physical beauty.
Concerning Love. A moving evocation of the pain of unrequited love.
Vanka. An orphaned boy desperately seeks rescue from his dreadful existence.
Swan Song. In his brilliant short play Swan Song, Chekov wrote a wonderful part for a great actor. In this new production Paul Scofield stars in a translation by Michael Frayn. Chekov captures all the pain and self-delusion of an elderly Russian actor struggling to come to terms with his enforced retirement – he will never act again. Why has he ended his days playing clowns and walk-ons in a bleak dingy provincial town many miles from the bright lights of Moscow? Did he ever really have any talent for playing the great roles?
(Version 1 1965 Wilfrid Lawson). Translated by Michael Frayn.
(Version 2 2006 Paul Scofield). Translated by Michael Frayn. As a tribute to the late Paul Scofield, another opportunity to hear his noted performance in this 2006 production. In a dazzling display of lost magic he brings to life moments from King Lear, Hamlet and Othello – all roles which Scofield has played with great distinction. The production also re-unites Scofield (Lear) with Alec McCowen (The fool) in a short excerpt from King Lear – parts they played together over 40 years ago in Peter Brook’s legendary 1962 production. Also playing one of Lear’s knights in that 1962 production was Martin Jenkins (director of Swan Song).
The Darling. Anton Chekhov’s short story The Darling, considered one of his finest, was first published in 1899. Leo Tolstoy his contemporary and one of the greatest Russian writers of the nineteenth century, was quick to celebrate Chekhov’s achievement in The Darling, comparing it to ‘‘a piece of lace,’’ like those woven by ‘‘old maids,’’ who ‘‘put their whole life, all their dreams of happiness, into their lace.’’ The Darling is a character sketch of Olga Semyonovna, the darling, a young woman whose life takes on meaning only in relation to the men to whom she attaches herself.
The Black Monk. The philosophy student Kovrin is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. His doctor suggests a rest in the country and so Kovrin decides to visit his childhood friend Tanya Pesotsky on her father's estate. While there he tells Tanya the legend of the black monk: a desert monk whose image has been reflected in mirages for a thousand years and who will soon return in the flesh.
The Duel. The Duel explores the emotional and mental states of two lovers, Ivan Andreitch Laevsky and Nadyezhda Fyodorovna, who have fled to the Caucasus in search of happiness and now are living together without benefit of matrimony, to the scandal of local society. Now realizing how different daily life is from romantic dreams, how different life as a farmer would be from visions of love in a vineyard, Laevsky is convinced that he no longer loves Nadyezhda Fyodorovna. Only the lack of money prevents him from deserting her.
Rothschild's Violin. A story of regret about a coffin maker whose wife of 50 years is taken seriously ill.
Collections
Stories by Anton Chekhov. Read by Alistair McGowan
An Incident. Two children. Two pets. One stranger. Then a small domestic disaster.
Bad Weather.1887
A Play (Drama). She insists on showing him her terrible work. He takes drastic action.
The Old House. The landlord shows us one of his properties. The memories are traumatic.
Ivan Matveyitch. An old academic and a young boy. A topsy-turvy friendship, but it endures.
Bad Weather. Or to put it another way, what has the husband been up to in Moscow?
Marriage According to Chekhov.
Two one-act plays and a short story to mark the centenary of the death of Anton Chekhov. Celebrating the comic side of his work, The Proposal, Foiled and The Wedding take a sideways look at the preparations for three different marriages.
The Chekhov Vaudeville. Three farcical comic one-act plays translated, adapted and introduced by Michael Frayn.
Drama. She insists on showing him her terrible work. He takes drastic action.
The Evils of Tobacco (monologue). In The Evil of Tobacco a pedantic schoolmaster prepares to deliver a lecture on the nastiness of nicotine, only for his talk to disintegrate into a bizarre confession of his innermost demons and desires.
The Proposal. Ivan Vassiliyitch Lomov, a long-time neighbor of Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov, has come to propose marriage to Chubukov's 25-year-old daughter, Natalia. After he has asked and received joyful permission to marry Natalia, she is invited into the room, and he tries to convey to her the proposal. Lomov is a hypochondriac, and, while trying to make clear his reasons for being there, he gets into an argument with Natalia about The Oxen Meadows, a disputed piece of land between their respective properties, which results in him having "palpitations" and numbness in his leg.
Miss Anya based on a Chekhov play*. Following the death of her father, a young woman returns from Moscow to her grandfather's estate, where her aunt tries to guide her to make a good match.
*Unable to find the title of the story that this play is based on. Any ideas?
A Life of Chekhov by Michael Hastings.
Adapted for radio by Michael Hastings, Irène Némirovsky's biography of Anton Chekhov captures crucial points from his tough childhood, his marriage and his final years as a celebrated playwright. The biography first appeared in 1950 but it wasn't until the publication of Némirovsky's Suite Française in 2006 that her great talent as a writer reached a wider audience. In A Life Of Chekhov, Némirovsky puts aside the conventional biographer's position and writes the story as if she were actually in the presence of the Chekhov family.
The Leave Taking. The first part, set in the dismal port town of Taganrog, reveals the miserable life of the Chekhovs, as the seeds of the endless conflict between father and son, brother and brother are sown.
At the Tailor's. Anton and his family move to Moscow after the bankruptcy of his father. Amidst the domestic chaos, the 19-year-old Anton studies to become a doctor and writes his short stories.
The Dead Pool. Anton becomes attracted to Natasha, the daughter of the family's landlord, who knows a secret about the pool where he goes to fish.
His Sister Masha. Now in his thirties and a successful short story writer, Anton tends to the sick and tries to mend his relationship with his father. Meanwhile, a rich neighbour turns his attention toward Anton's sister Masha.
The Trap Pony. Anton falls in love with an actress, Olga Knipper, but his marriage to her brings him into conflict with his sister.
How to Leave Badenweiler. By Michael Butt. A Chekhovian story about the death of Chekhov to mark the centenary of the great writer's death.
Documentaries
How Chekhov Speaks to Us. This short programme, broadcast as a curtain-raiser to the BBC's season celebrating 150 years since the birth of Anton Chekhov, invited actors, critics, writers to explain why his plays have proved so enduringly popular.
Chekhov's Death: Fact And Fiction. To mark the 100th anniversary of Anton Chekhov's death on 15th July, Julian Evans turns detective and investigates the blend of fact and fantasy that swirl around his death. At around 3.00am, on 15th July 1904, in a hotel bedroom in Badenweiler, south Germany, with his wife, the celebrated Moscow Arts Theatre actress Olga Knipper, and a German doctor named Schwöhrer in attendance Chekov died from severe tuberculosis contracted as early as his teens. His death scene is also one of the great set pieces of literary history: the doctor, called at one in the morning, ordering champagne, Chekhov smiling and saying, 'It's a long time since I drank champagne', draining the glass, then to the doctor, in German, 'Ich sterbe' and falling into death quietly
But there is more, and less, to it than that, and even some doubt about Olga Knipper's truthfulness. Julian Evans travels to Badenweiler to investigates whether the account of the young student, Leo Rabeneck, who was also present at Chekhov's death holds some new clues about the writer who was addicted to giving the most honest diagnosis of the human condition.
Chekhov's Theatre of Dreams. To commemorate the centenary of the great Russian ramatist Anton Chekhov's death, Richard Eyre traces the origins of the Moscow Art Theatre, with which he was closely associated.
Great Lives - Anton Chekhov - With Richard Eyre. Sir Richard Eyre is one of Britain's greatest theatre directors and, invited by Humphrey Carpenter to nominate a 'great life', he has chosen one of the world's greatest writers.
Born in provincial Russia, and dead at the age of 44 exactly a hundred years ago, Dr Chekhov was an unlikely candidate for greatness, but with a few great plays and hundreds of stories he became 'the nearest rival to Shakespeare'.
Chekhov's latest biographer, Rosalind Bartlett, helps to explain how he achieved this.
Alexander Kuprin's To Chekhov's Memory. Translated by S S Koteliansky and Leonard Woolf. Read by Ben Whishaw. To mark the 150th anniversary of Anton Chekhov's birth a first-hand portrait of his final years in Yalta.
The text can be found here.
