The Cherry Orchard: A Comedy in Four Acts

by Anton Chekhov, Julius West (Translator)

Overview

Classic of world drama concerns the passing of the old semifeudal order in turn-of-the-century Russia, symbolized in the sale of the cherry orchard owned by Madame Ranevskaya. The work also showcases Chekhov's rich sensitivities as an observer of human nature. This inexpensive, high-quality edition, reprinted from a standard edition of the play, will provide theater students and any lover of great drama with a reliable text of this masterpiece.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781722247362
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	07/03/2018
Series:	Plays by Anton Chekhov
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.10(d)

About the Author

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramaturge and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Chekhov practised as a medical doctor throughout most of his literary career: "Medicine is my lawful wife", he once said, "and literature is my mistress."

Chekhov renounced the theatre after the disastrous reception of The Seagull in 1896, but the play was revived to acclaim in 1898 by Constantin Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre, which subsequently also produced Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and premiered his last two plays, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. These four works present a challenge to the acting ensemble as well as to audiences, because in place of conventional action Chekhov offers a "theatre of mood" and a "submerged life in the text."

Chekhov had at first written stories only for financial gain, but as his artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations which have influenced the evolution of the modern short story. His originality consists in an early use of the stream-of-consciousness technique, later adopted by James Joyce and other modernists, combined with a disavowal of the moral finality of traditional story structure. He made no apologies for the difficulties this posed to readers, insisting that the role of an artist was to ask questions, not to answer them.

Editorial Reviews

...a new, faithful, very playable and gorgeous translation by Jean-Claude van Itallie.

NY Post

I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like this production on a stage before—I left the Beaumont exhilarated.

NY Times

Jean-Claude van Itallie's adaptation is splendid, colloquial without being cute, simple, moving, funny.

Village Voice

Frayn's translation, which strikes me as splendidly lucid and alive…will be acted again and again

New Statesman

Frayn's translation, which strikes me as splendidly lucid and alive…will be acted again and again” —New Statesman

From the Publisher