 |
About the play
For Michael Frayn, who is both proficient in Russian and a notably sucessful playwright himself, translating Chekhov is a labour of love and homage fuelled by a complex understanding of Chekov, the writer, and of the characters he created. Following on from his hightly-acclaimed adaption of Chekhov's play without a title, as Wild Honey, Michael Frayne has taken the four comic vaudevilles The Bear, The Evils of Tobacco, Swan Song and The Proposal, and also four of the short stories - Drama, The Alien Corn, The Sneeze and The Inspector-General - to make a sparking evening of theatre.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anton Chekov (1860-1904) first turned to writing as a medical student at Mosvow University, from which he graduated in 1884. Among his early plays were short monologues (The Evils of Tobacco, 1885), one-act farces such as The Bear, The Proposal and The Wedding, (1888-1889) and the 'Platanov' material, adapted by Michael Frayn as Wild Ivonov (1887), The Wood Demon (1889) andThe Seagull (1896), were initially failures. But the Moscow Art Theatre's revival of The Seagull two years later was successful and was followed by his materpiece, Uncle Vanya (1889), Three Sisters (1901), and the Cherry Orchard in 1904, the year of his death.
ABOUT THE MUSIC Amongst other pieces you will hear the following music this evening:
Polovtaian Dances from Prince Igor by Borodin Introduction to Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky Parts of Night on a Bare Mountain by Mussorgsky Opening of 2nd Movement Piano Concerto No 1 by Tchaikovsky Parts of the Tempest by Tchaikovsky |
 |