Plays (Classics of World Literature) - Softcover

Chekhov, Anton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184022617X ISBN 13: 9781840226171

Publisher: Wordsworth Editions, 2007

Synopsis

Translated, with an introductory essay, by Elisaveta Fen. This Wordsworth Edition includes an exclusive introduction by A.D.P.Briggs.

Anton Chekhov's popularity in the west is without parallel for a foreign writer. He has been absorbed into our culture, and accepted as one of our own. His plays lend themselves easily to the stage, calling for actors with intelligence and common sense rather than a dramatic voice or histrionic skills. He takes from everyday life themes of frustration which apply to us all - the difficulty of carving out a happy existence, the problems of love, the fading of hope, the universal feeling that time passes and we never quite get things right.     This seems pessimistic, and yet Chekhov claimed he was writing comedy. Readers, actors and directors must decide for themselves which way to play these pieces. They are full of sadness, but a sadness described as the 'darkness of the last hour before the dawn'. Whether tragic or comic, however, they are works of the first importance. The Cherry Orchard has been described as 'the best play since Shakespeare', Three Sisters as 'the best play in the world'.

About this title

Product Description

Anton Chekhov's popularity in the west is without parallel for a foreign writer. He has been absorbed into our culture, and accepted as one of our own. His plays lend themselves easily to the stage, calling for actors with intelligence and common sense rather than a dramatic voice or histrionic skills. He takes from everyday life themes of frustration which apply to us all - the difficulty of carving out a happy existence, the problems of love, the fading of hope, the universal feeling that time passes and we never quite get things right. This seems pessimistic, and yet Chekhov claimed he was writing comedy. Readers, actors and directors must decide for themselves which way to play these pieces. They are full of sadness, but a sadness described as the 'darkness of the last hour before the dawn'. Whether tragic or comic, however, they are works of the first importance. "The Cherry Orchard" has been described as 'the best play since Shakespeare', "Three Sisters" as 'the best...

About the Author

Professor A.D.P. Briggs is Head of the Department of Russian Language and Literature at the University of Birmingham in England.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wordsworth Editions
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 184022617X
• ISBN 13: 9781840226171
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400