Word: chekhovisms
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...show is magnificent beyond the bounds of description. In fact, description of the sets, lighting and a few--fortunately very few--performances would be so depressing as to sound like condemnation. What this production does well--mainly in the line of interpretation and acting--it does exceptionally well, and Chekhov himself has, by his style of writing, kept what is bad from dimming the whole effect. Unlike most plays of direction and climax, in which one performance reinforces another, Chekhov's plays allow no role to interfere with any other. Unless bad performances are in the majority their only result...
...Thomas Whedon seem far off in their roles. Smithies is biting, ironic and sharp in a part that calls, for an understanding, kindly and perhaps slightly silly, doctor. Whedon simply does not have the feel of his part. He turns a sensitive young poet of almost professional soulfulness, whom Chekhov both admires for his earnestness and satirizes for his foolishness, into a hard-speaking young whiner who lacks any grace or charm. There is no air of authenticity in Whedon's voice or reading: only loud and soft tones...
Russophile or Russophobe, if you are interested in drama you should consider Slavic 147. Associate Professor Wiktor Weintraub is giving "Modern Slavic Drama," from 1800 on, for the first time and will deal with selected plays translated from both Russian and Polish. Chekhov will be the main attraction, Sever 21 will be the stage...
...recognized Goncharov's genius, but after nearly a century, his major work is still little known in the West. Probably no finer introduction exists than the supple, perceptive new English translation (the first in 25 years) by David Magar-shack, himself the author of two good biographies of Chekhov and Turgenev...
...eyewitness report written in 1884 by Varvara Zhitova, adopted daughter of Turgenev's mother, is like the beginning of a psychiatrist's case history: it deals with the patient's heredity and early environment. Turgenev: A Life, by David Magarshack. a competent. Russian-born biographer (Chekhov: A Life), is more a full-dress analysis of his great artistic achievement and personal unhappiness...