The Seagull (Stage Edition Series)

by Anton Chekhov, Laurence Senelick (Translator)

Overview

“Senelick’s accomplishment is astounding.”—Library Journal

Anton Chekhov is a unique force in modern drama, his works cherished for their brilliant wit and insight into the human condition. In this stunning new translation of one of Chekhov’s most popular and beloved plays, Laurence Senelick presents a fresh perspective on the master playwright and his groundbreaking dramas. He brings this timeless trial of art and love to life as memorable characters have clashing desires and lose balance in the shifting eruptions of society and a modernizing Russia. Supplementing the play is an account of Chekhov’s life; a note on the translation; an introduction to the work; and variant lines, often removed due to government censorship, which illuminate the context in which they were written. This edition is the perfect guide to enriching our understanding of this great dramatist or to staging a production.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393338980
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	07/12/2010
Series:	Stage Edition Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	267 KB

About the Author

Anton Chekhov was born on January 29, 1860 in Taganrog, Russia. He graduated from the University of Moscow in 1884. Chekhov died of tuberculosis in Germany on July 14, 1904, shortly after his marriage to actress Olga Knipper, and was buried in Moscow.
Laurence Senelick is the Fletcher Professor of Drama and Oratory at Tufts University and author of more than a dozen books, including the award-winning The Chekhov Theatre and The Changing Room: Sex, Drag, and the Theatre. He is director of his own translations of Gogol’s The Inspector General (1998) and Euripides’ The Bakkhai (2001).

Table of Contents

	Anton Chekhov: 1860-1904	v
	Plot	xi
	Commentary	xx
	The Seagull in context	xx
	The seagull and the enchanted lake	xxv
	The play-within-the-play	xxviii
	Time and memory; youth and age; sleep and dream	xxxiii
	Art and life; love and destruction	xxxvi
	Comedy or tragedy?	xxxix
	Problems of translation	xli
	Critical perspectives	xlvi
	The Seagull in production	liv
	Further Reading	lxxvii
	Translator's Introduction	lxxix
	A Note on the Translation	xciii
	Pronunciation of the Names	xcvii
	The Seagull	1
	Notes	68

Editorial Reviews

Senelick . . . has done his job as scholar and translator nearly to perfection.

Weekly Standard

"The play has been flooded with light, like a room with the curtains drawn back."— John Peter, Sunday Times

"The direct simplicity of this new translation … uncovers not only the nerve endings of Chekhov's restless malcontents but also their comic absurdities. It is, as he always intended, actually funny."—Jack Tinker, Daily Mail

From the Publisher