Born on January 29, 1860, in Taganrog,
Russia, on the Sea of Azov, Anton Pavlovich C would eventually become one of
Russia's most cherished storytellers. Especially fond of vaudevilles and French
farces, he produced some hilarious one-acts, but it is his full-lengtragedies
that have secured him a place among the greatest dramatists of all time.
of Moscow. After graduating in 1884 with a
degree in medicine, he began to freelance as a journalist and writer of comic
sketches. Early in his career, he mastered the form of the one-act and produced
several masterpieces of this genre including The Bear (1888) in whica
creditor hounds a young widow, but becomes so impressed when she agrees to
fight a duel with him, that he proposes marriage, and The Wedding (1889)
in which a bridegroomplans to have a general attend his wedding ceremony
backfire when the general turns out to be a retired naval captain "of the
second rank".
suicide of a young man very similar to
Chekhov himself in many ways. His next play, The Wood Demon (1888) was
also fairly unsuccessful. In fact, it was not until the Moscow Art Theater
production of The Seagull (1897) that Chekhov enjoyed his first
overwhelming success. The same play had been performed two years earlier at the
Alexandrinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg and had been so badly received that
Chekhov had actually left theauditorium during the second act and vowed never
to write for the theatre again. But in the hands of the Moscow Art Theatre, the
play was transformed into a critical success, and Chekhov soon realized that
the earlier production had failed because the actors had not understood their
roles.
(1899). Along with The Three Sisters
(1901) and The Cherry Orchard (1904), this play would go on to
become one of the masterpieces of the modern theatre. However, although the
Moscow Art Theatre productions brought Chekhov great fame, he was never quite
happy with the style that director Constantin Stanislavskyimposed on the plays.
While Chekhov insisted that his plays were comedies, Stanislavsky's productions
tendeto emphasize their tragic elements. Still, in spite of their stylistic
disagreements, it was not an unhappy marriage, and these productions brought
widespread acclaim to both Chekhov's work and the Moscow Art Theatre itself.
in turn-of-the-century Russia. Perhaps
Chekhov's style was described best by the poet himself when he wrote:
are!' The important thing is that people
should realize that, for when they do, they will most certainly create another
and better life for themselves. I will not live to see it, but I know that it
will be quite different, quite unlike our present life. And so long as this
different life does not exist, I shall go on saying to people again and again:
'Please, understand that your life is bad and dreary!'"
he had suffered a lung hemorrhaage, and
although he still made occasional trips to Moscow to participate in the
productions of his plays, he was forced to spend most of his time in the Crimea
where he had gone for his health. He died of tuberculosis on July 14, 1904, at
the age of forty-four, in a German health resort and was buried in Moscow.
Since his death, Chekhov's plays have become famous worldwide and he has come
to be considered the greatest Russian storyteller and dramatist of modern
times. Courtesy Moonstruck Drama,
2008
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