Center Stage: Chekhov in Russia 100 Years On

Center Stage: Chekhov in Russia 100 Years On JOHN FREEDMAN I. THE PR ESENCE Anton Chekhov was not the only classic author to hold Russian theatres captive for much of the 1990s. At the beginning of 1999, a careful, though inexact , count of Moscow shows based on works by Chekhov, Alexander Ostrovsky, Nikolay Gogol, and Fedor Dostoevsky revealed some interesting numbers. The leader, Ostrovsky, who wrote or co-wrote over fifty plays, had thirty-five productions of his plays running at various houses thJoughout the capital. Right behind him, with thirty productions of plays or dramatized stories , was Chekhov. (If we include the ten one-act plays and count separately the early works that later evolved into others, Chekhov can generously be considered the author of eighteen dramatic works.) Gogol's plays and prose works formed the basis of fifteen productions, and Dostoevsky's novels and stories had been adapted for twelve stage productions.1 But whatever the numbers, it was Chekhov who was in control. What might even be called Chekhov's hegemony could be discerned in a vast number of ways that often had nothing to do with productions of his plays. He was simultaneously a model and an opponent for many contemporary writers. His name (as a talisman) or his image (as an icon) cropped up frequently . Onen the references were burlesques. In Grigory Gurvich's song-and-dance show, I Tap About Moscow (1992), at Moscow's Bat Cabaret Theatre, amidst jabs at various cultural figures and institutions including Vladimir Lenin, Marilyn Monroe, Catherine the Great, and the KGB, a character cracked a joke about Chekhov dying of tuberculosis . In Vladimir Mirzoyev's production of Alexey Kazantsev's That, This Other World (1997) at Moscow's Stanislavsky Theatre, a character muttered and beat his chest as he coughed "... like that, uh ... , like that ... Chekhov." It was done so that everyone in the hall knew perfectly well what famous Modem Drama, 42 (Winter 1999) 541 542 JOHN FREEDMAN sufferer of tuberculosis coughed "like that" before the name was pronounced . These two examples are minor, indeed, which is precisely why I commence with them. Chekhov was omnipresent in Moscow in the '990S, down to the smallest, most insignificant detail.2 Chekhov's name became both a symbol intended to imply excellence and a brand label that could be expected to attract attention and perhaps sponsors' money. When the Moscow Art Theatre, for many years honoring the name of Maxim Gorky in its title, split into two warring factions in 1987, the theatre's artistic director, Oleg Yefremov, quickly moved to ally his half of the troupe with ilS founding playwright. His crew, the one remaining in the original building on Kamergersky Lane, became known as the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre. When in [990 Leonid Trushkin founded the first independent theatre of the perestroika era, he called it the Anton Chekhov Theatre and opened with a production of The Cherry Orchard. When the International Confederation of Theatre Associations inaugurated a massive festival in 1992, they called it the Anton Chekhov International Theatre Festival. Peter Stein. the renowned Gennan director, saw his reputation in Russia take a steep climb thanks to his productions of Three Sisters, which toured Moscow in '990, and The Cherry Orchard, which played in Moscow in [992. The depth and intricacy of these shows caused some to speak in jest and many more in seriousness of Stein as more Russian than most Russian directors and as the last bastion of genuine Stanislavskian realism on the modem stage. Consequently, Stein was awarded a Russian Theatre Foundation prize in 1993 in recognition of "outstanding works aiding the unification of the Russian cultural space." In 1996, Stein spent several weeks in Russia with a troupe ofItalian actors rehearsing his production of Uncle Vanya for the Teatro di Roma and the Teatro Stabile di Parma. The show celebrated its world premiere in Moscow as an entry in the Second Anton Chekhov International Theatre Festival . True, by this time the meticulous Stein approach was beginning to look repetitive to some, but there is no denying that the Chekhov-Stein connection had become a prominent landmark on the Russian theatre scene in...