Plays of Anton Chekhov
- Book Review,
by Anton Chekhov
From Library Journal
Chekhov left a legacy of four major dramas as well as hundreds of short comic sketches and stories. Strongly influenced by the Symbolist movement, Chekhov drew upon his personal experiences in depicting the lives of the Russian landed gentry. The period 1996-2004 marks the centennial of the premieres of his best-known plays and brings a renewed appreciation of his place in modern drama. The translations of The Three Sisters, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, and The Cherry Orchard by Rocamora (theater, Tisch Sch. of the Arts, NYU) remain faithful to the period flavor of the original while being fresh and fluid for modern American actors and audiences. Rocamora also provides a lengthy biographical sketch of Chekhov, which is useful for an understanding of his works. A respected translator, dramaturge, actor, and playwright, Schmidt intends to re-create in American English vernacular the vitality and humor of Chekhov. In this, he succeeds admirably, particularly in some of the short comedies, such as The Proposal. Schmidt's translations seem the more contemporary of the two work under review, and he makes use of many common vulgarisms in the comedies?presumably bringing them closer to what Chekhov's audiences were familiar with. Both titles offer fine contemporary translations that are a pleasure to read. If your collection can support only one "complete Chekhov," go with Schmidt; otherwise, these two titles complement each other and can be recommended for all modern drama collections.?Howard E. Miller, St. LouisCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
These critically hailed translations of The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, The Three Sisters and the other Chekhov plays are the only ones in English by a Russian-language scholar who is also a veteran Chekhovian actor.Without compromising the spirit of the text, Paul Schmidt accurately translates Chekhov's entire theatrical canon, rescuing the humor "lost" in most academic translations while respecting the historical context and original social climate.Schmidt's translations of Chekhov have been successfully staged all over the U.S. by such theatrical directors as Lee Strasberg, Elizabeth Swados, Peter Sellars and Robert Wilson. Critics have hailed these translations as making Chekhov fully accessible to American audiences. They are also accurate -- Schmidt has been described as "the gold standard in Russian-English translation" by Michael Holquist of the Russian department at Yale University.
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian
Download Description
Swan Song, Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, On the High Road, The Proposal, The Wedding, The Bear, A Tragedian in Spite of Himself, The Aniversary, The Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard
Card catalog description
Paul Schmidt's new translations of The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, and other plays bring Chekhov up to date. Schmidt restores the vitality and humor that are lost in most academic translations and makes the plays accessible to a modern American sensibility. He also retains their social context, unlike translations by those who have no experience of Russian language or culture.
About the Author
Paul Schmidt , a translator, playwright, and actor, has been involved in the theater for years as a writer, scholar, and performer.He taughtfor several years at the University of Texas at Austin and is the translator of Arthur Rimbaud: Complete Works and The Collected Works of Velimir Khlebnikov and the editor of Meyerhold at Work.He is also the author of two poetry: Night Lifeand Winter Solstice
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