The Seagull - Softcover

Chekhov, Anton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 149522757X ISBN 13: 9781495227578

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

Synopsis

Considered by some critics among one of the 100 most important plays of all times, The Seagull is the first of the four major plays of Anton Chekhov, revolving around the romantic and aristic relations of the four main characters. It was first staged in 1896 in St Petersbourg, resulting in a spectacular fiasco, but soon recovered to go on to become one of the most performed shows on all times.

About this title

Review

Joseph Blatchely's fine new production of The Seagull takes us to the Russian countryside in a fresh and exciting way. Working with Charlotte Pyke and John Kerr on a new translation, Chekhov's text seems funnier and more dramatic than ever. --The London Magazine

One of the dozen or so greatest plays ever written by anyone anywhere is being given just about as fine a production as you can reasonably ask for. I would happily send a first-timer to the Arcola to discover what a great playwright Chekhov is, and I can also recommend it to Chekhov veterans for the many fresh colours and lovely touches director Joseph Blatchley and his cast bring. All I have to say is that I have to go back to James Mason and Vanessa Redgrave in the 1968 film to find a version as moving and true as the one here and then to add that just about everything else in the production is on the same high level. --Theatreguide London

Blatchley has created a world of real people tormented by real and devastating decisions. Powerful, poignant and bordering on perfect, this was the most wonderful evening I have ever had in the theatre in a long, long time! --The Good Review

About the Author

Anton Chekhov
Born in 1860, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian short-story writer, playwright and physician, considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in the history of world literature. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Chekhov’s play The Seagull, translated by David French, is available from Talonbooks.

David French
Born in Coley’s Point, Newfoundland, David French was one of Canada’s best-known and most critically acclaimed playwrights. His work received many major awards, and French was one of the first inductees into the Newfoundland Arts Hall of Honour.

Among his best-loved works are the semi-autobiographical Mercer plays: Salt-Water Moon; 1949; Leaving Home, recently named one of Canada’s 100 Most Influential Books (Literary Review of Canada) and one of the 1,000 Most Essential Plays in the English Language (Oxford Dictionary of Theatre); Of the Fields, Lately and Soldier’s Heart. The Mercer plays have received hundreds of productions across North America, including a Broadway production of Of the Fields, Lately. This quintet of plays about a Newfoundland family has also touched audiences in Europe, South America and Australia. In addition, French produced skillful adaptations of Alexander Ostrovsky’s The Forest, Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull and August Strindberg’s Miss Julie.

Edition details

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 149522757X
• ISBN 13: 9781495227578
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 64