Chekhov in Performance

A rewarding study of four of Chekhov's major plays.

J. L. Styan (Author)

9780521293457, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 21 September 1978

360 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2 cm, 0.46 kg

'Professor Styan leads us very methodically through the major plays, act by act, with some additional critical comment at the head of each play. He modestly stresses that 'these commentaries' are not an attempt to finalise some such imaginary entity as an ideal production' but nevertheless, as an introduction to Chekhov and as a stimulus for those wishing to look afresh at the work of this most beautiful of dramatic poets, Professor Styan's book is ideal.' Martin Banham, Speech and Drama

For a full understanding of any text, careful consideration must be given to its life in performance. In this rewarding study of four of Chekhov's major plays - Uncle Vanya, The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard and Three Sisters - J. L. Styan demonstrates the development of Chekhov's skills as a dramatist and discusses stage action, portrayal of character, differing twentieth-century productions and the audience reactions they evoked.

Acknowledgments
References
List of plates
Introduction
1. The Seagull
2. Uncle Vanya
3. Three Sisters
4. The Cherry Orchard
Postscript.

Subject Areas: Theatre studies [AN]