The Seagull

by Anton Chekhov, Richard Nelson (Translator), Richard Pevear (Translator), Larissa Volokhonsky (Translator)

Overview

David French’s brilliant translation of The Seagull, in collaboration with Russian scholar, Donna Orwin, is at one and the same time a revitalization of a Russian theatre classic, and French’s personal tribute to one of the greatest playwrights of all time.

Cast of 5 women and 8 men.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781559365499
Publisher:	Theatre Communications Group
Publication date:	11/21/2017
Series:	TCG Classic Russian Drama Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Anton Chekhov
Born in 1860, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian short-story writer, playwright and physician, considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in the history of world literature. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Chekhov’s play The Seagull, translated by David French, is available from Talonbooks.

David French
Born in Coley’s Point, Newfoundland, David French was one of Canada’s best-known and most critically acclaimed playwrights. His work received many major awards, and French was one of the first inductees into the Newfoundland Arts Hall of Honour.

Among his best-loved works are the semi-autobiographical Mercer plays: Salt-Water Moon; 1949; Leaving Home, recently named one of Canada’s 100 Most Influential Books (Literary Review of Canada) and one of the 1,000 Most Essential Plays in the English Language (Oxford Dictionary of Theatre); Of the Fields, Lately and Soldier’s Heart. The Mercer plays have received hundreds of productions across North America, including a Broadway production of Of the Fields, Lately. This quintet of plays about a Newfoundland family has also touched audiences in Europe, South America and Australia. In addition, French produced skillful adaptations of Alexander Ostrovsky’s The Forest, Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull and August Strindberg’s Miss Julie.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

ACT I 4
ACT II 16
ACT III 25
ACT IV 34

Editorial Reviews

"Anya Reiss dazzles us once again with a fresh, colloquial, sexy and downright perceptive new version of The Seagull that brings Chekhov’s earliest major play recognisably close to home and up-to-date." - Telegraph

"This is the first time that Reiss has attempted an adaptation of one of the classic writers and it is an assured beginning. Her witty, understated rendering captures perfectly the dark comedy of the various love triangles." - What’s On Stage

"Now The Seagull has been Anglicized and pulled into the 21st century by award-laden wunderkind Anya Reiss." - Independent

From the Publisher

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.

Daily Mail Jack Tinker

The play has been flooded with light, like a room with the curtains drawn back.

Sunday Times John Peter

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

Weekly Standard