The Chekhov Theatre: A Century of the Plays in Performance

Description

This is the first cross-cultural study of Chekhov's plays in production. Many now consider Chekhov a playwright equal to Shakespeare, and this book studies how the reputation evolved, and how the presentation of his plays varied and altered from their initial productions in Russia to the most recent postmodern deconstructions of them. In the process, Laurence Senelick analyses the ways in which the reception of Chekhov's plays reflects social, political and aesthetic attitudes in specific countries. Particular attention is given to the staging of Chekhov in Russia before and after the Revolution, and under different regimes; in the English-speaking world, in Western and Eastern Europe, as well as in Japan. Senelick also includes interpretations of Chekhov by the century's most influential directors and designers with valuable and informative illustrations of key productions also a feature of the book.

'In this fascinating and important book, Laurence Senelick traces ... changes from the very first productions of Chekhov in Russia 100 years ago to the latest directorial experiments of post-modern deconstruction. Numerous illustrations inserted in the text at appropriate points accompany this highly readable, informative and most valuable study of theatrical practice - a most welcome contrast to the arid and simple-minded pseudo-theorising of much contemporary 'scholarly' writing on drama.' Plays International 'Senelick's book is more than a simple slice of theatre history: it also reflects more than a hundred years of social, political, and cultural change, inscribed in different productions, and mirrored through the prism of the plays. Senelick's is an ambitious undertaking and an exhaustive piece of research ... the book will act as a very useful guide, a rich resource, and a stimulus to further investigations.' New Theatre Quarterly