Word: chekhovs
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Behold my Lear," proclaimed Shaw, with his usual modesty, of this melancholy farce. Not for him the inevitable comparisons with Chekhov and Congreve. No, he would recast Lear as Captain Shotover, a wily old man of the sea, sensitive to every political current, each distant drumroll of thunder on the cloudless eve of the Great War. Surrounding the Captain are his two bewitching daughters, with their foolish suitors, and one young woman, Ellie Dunn, who is wise and innocent enough to read the Captain's prophetic mind. In Shaw's Lear, Cordelia has a divine madness...
Specialties that deserve an honorable place on the American table include kulebyaka, the glorious salmon pie described by Chekhov as "shameless in its nakedness, a temptation to sin"; pirozhki, the more plebeian meat or vegetable pies; kidney and dill pickle soup; Azerbaidzhan lamb patties; veal stew with cherries; Ukrainian honey cake; smetannik, a rich pie of sour cream, jam and nuts; and the celebrated Guriev kasha, a thickened compote of brandied fruits. To round out a Russian banquet, Goldstein provides instructions for a dozen deliciously flavored vodkas, and with them a toast to the meal: Eshte, eshte na zdorovye...
AFTER the hard but enjoyable labor of reading these little miracles, it seems a shame that the entire list can't be instantly awarded a place on the shelf next to the well thumbed offerings of de Maupassant, Chekhov, and Lawrence. Yet as Tyler cautions in her introductions, while a mediocre novel can fashion a place, a memory sheerly through fulsome persistance, even a very good short story is ephemeral. The Best American Short Stories is proud of its egalitarianism--unlike Prize Stories, it doesn't pick first, second, and third prizes. But this is faintly spurious democracy: we make...
...good physician must be able to inspire hope as well as be a man or woman of medicine. These abilities are best learned from a strong dose of the liberal arts. Anton Chekhov, a doctor who was also a master of the short story, once said, "Medicine is my lawful wife and literature my mistress. When I get tired of one, I spend the night with the other...
Ironically, Chekhov's genius lies in his ability to communicate the inability to communicate. Rauch's production not only captures this haunting theme, but--by putting the audience on stage, and the stage in the audience--suggests that the loneliness and isolation of Chekhov's characters is all too real...