Word: chekov
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Present Laughteris designed simply to entertain. Coward spoofs the "theater of ideas" advocated by Ibsen and Chekov in the character of Roland Maule, a young cuckoo-headed would-be playwright. Maule, a caricature of the "serious" dramatist, spouts streams of cliched arguments about "commercial theater," "intellectual significance,"and of course "posterity." Ironically Maule adores and admires Garry, who personified frivolous commercial theater...
...McCoy, who in one episode contracted an incurable disease and fell in love with the green high priestess of a doomed planetoid; Chief Engineer Scott ("Scotty"), for whom "relaxation is a stack of technical journals"; Lieut. Uhura, the black female communications officer who sings soprano for relaxation; and Ensign Chekov, the Russian pilot. The stars were greeted by standing ovations...
...quite. Director Bart McCarthy's characters have little charm, their lines have little music, and their interaction has no comic side. Maybe I exaggerate. Chekov will survive quite a bit, possibly including this production...
...lack of comedy hurts most. Chekov's plays burst with heartbreaking comedy, the comedy of a dying class whose suffering and humanity are not less because it deserves to die. Even the stage directions are comic. "There is also a map of Africa on the wall, obviously of no use to anybody." That map should fairly exude incongruity, and when Dr. Astrov, searching desperately for something to say, observes that it's probably roasting in Africa right now, we ought to laugh at the statement's inappropriateness at the same time that we recognize his desperation. In the Boston...
Burtt shows great feeling for Chekov's word-music, though her other great speech, the one about how forests make people kind and gentle, is hard to understand. Joseph Wilkins as Vanya and Virginia Feingold as Helena whine too much; but David Zucker as Astrov and Esquire Jauchem as the Professor ("something between a well-preserved biscuit and an educated fish," Vanya calls him) aren...