Books by Anton Chekhov

Book SynopsisDrama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price Set in a country weighed down by political, ideological and spiritual stagnation, Chekhov's compelling early play is rooted in the revolutionary atmosphere of Russia at the turn of the 20th century. Anton Chekhov's play Ivanov was first performed in 1887 at the Korsh Theatre in Moscow. This English version, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is translated and introduced by Stephen Mulrine, with notes on Further Reading, a Chronology and a Pronunciation Guide.

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Book SynopsisA unique collection of everything that Chekhov wrote about the theatre. Chekhov started writing about theatre in newspaper articles and in his own letters even before he began writing plays. Later, he wrote in detail about his own plays to his lifelong friend and mentor Alexei Suvorin, his wife and leading actress, Olga Knipper, and to the two directors of the Moscow Art Theatre, Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko. Collected for this volume, these writings reveal Chekhov's instinctive curiosity about the way theatre works – and his concerns about how best to realise his own intentions as a playwright. Often peppery, passionate, even distraught, as he feels his plays misinterpreted or undermined, Chekhov comes over in these pages as a true man of the theatre.Trade Review'Chekhov is an acute observer who could easily have made his way as a director or dramaturg judging by his ability to spot strengths and weaknesses in not only his own writing but that of others. This book builds a strong picture of theatrical life in Moscow and St Petersburg just before and at the turn of the last century, with vast amounts of bitching seemingly a commonplace. It can also serve as a tangential autobiography since, through its pages, it is possible to learn much about its subject's life and work.' * British Theatre Guide *

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Book SynopsisThis collection features Chekhov’s best-known short plays in brand new translations: three farces, two comic duologues and a monologue, all of them referred to by Chekhov as ‘vaudevilles’ and all written in the late 1880s before any of his great full-length plays. ‘I don’t much care for theatre,’ he wrote at the time, ‘but I do enjoy vaudevilles.’ The Bear, The Proposal and The Wedding are all farces on the preposterous business of courtship and marriage. A Tragic Figure and Swansong are comic duologues: one about a civil servant sweltering in Moscow coping with the incessant demands of his family from their summer dacha, the other about a melancholy old actor perked up by memories of past glories. On the Evils of Tobacco is a bittersweet monologue in which a scientific lecture is hijacked by thoughts of domestic misery. These accurate and actable translations by Chekhov expert Stephen Mulrine reveal a dramatist revelling in the broad comedy of human behaviour, a comedy which was refined in his later masterpieces. Highly entertaining, these comic shorts offer a fascinating insight into Chekhov’s development as a dramatist, and will provide actors at any level – student, amateur or professional – with an ideal showcase. This edition also includes an introduction, a chronology of key dates, and a pronunciation guide.

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Book SynopsisA fresh, lively, accurate, and, for the first time, complete translation in English of Chekhov's five most famous plays.Trade Review"Brodskaya's translation reads easily and naturally... If you haven't read [Chekhov], read him. If you have, it's always a good time to read him again."—Bob Blaisdell, San Francisco Chronicle"Tender, lucent translation that makes Chekhov's characters leap off the page."—Larry Moss, Acting Teacher and Director"Chekhov's desperate, comedic greatness comes through in these versions as never before—and precisely those two qualities are required, for Chekhov is neither infernal tragedy nor trivial farce but a special sort of purgatorial comedy. I sensed this aura for the first time in Brodskaya's translations, and shivered while laughing. This is a contemporary American-English variant of world-famous plays cast at perfect pitch, by a person who sees (as well as hears) words."—Caryl Emerson, Princeton University"[A]nyone who has taught Chekhov's plays or produced them theatrically, certainly anyone with a knowledge of the original texts, must have been frustrated by the marked defects of previous translations. Brodskaya's translation allows us to discover Chekhovian precision and the impact of his strategic word-choices, together with the light these shine on the fabric of modern drama and communication. It is deeply attuned to the spirit of Chekhov's language and his compassionate observation of humans caught in the net of their own habits and blind spots, striving to stop, cause, or foresee the huge change that has already engulfed them."—Monika Greenleaf, from her Notes on the Translation"With Chekhov, there are infinite possibilities in every thought, every interaction. All an actor asks for in a translation is that these possibilities be left open as they are so beautifully here."—Peter Sarsgaard, actor"In these superlative translations, Marina Brodskaya succeeds in letting Chekhov speak for himself. Her sensitivity to Chekhov's concise and delicate language allows the beauty of his writing to shine through in a way which is wonderfully redolent of the original Russian."—Rosamund Bartlett, author of Chekhov: Scenes From a Life, translator of About Love and Other Stories, and Founding Director of the Anton Chekhov Foundation

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Book SynopsisThese beautifully translated works demonstrate why Chekhov's short fiction has achieved universal acclaim.

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Book SynopsisBecause Chekhov’s plays convey the universally recognizable, sometimes comic, sometimes dramatic, frustrations of decent people trying to make sense of their lives, they remain as fresh and vigorous as when they were written a century ago. Gathered here in superb new renderings by one of the most highly regarded translators of our time—versions that have been staged throughout the United States, Canada, and Great Britain—are Chekhov’s four essential masterpieces for the theater.

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Book SynopsisAnton Chekhov revolutionized Russian theater through his inimitable portrayals of characters faced with complex moral dilemmas.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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