THE EARLY PLAYS Smith and Kraus Books Foract Ors
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Chekhov THE EARLY PLAYS Smith and Kraus Books forAct ors GREAT TRANSLATIONS FOR ACTORS SERIES Anthologies and Collections . Chekhov: Four Plays, tr. by Carol Rocamora Ch�khov's Vaudevilles , tr. by Carol Rocamora Ibsen: Four Major Plays, tr. by R. Davis & B. Johnston Ibsen VolumeII: Four Plays, tr. by Brian Johnston Ibsen VolumeIll: Four Plays, tr. by Brian .Johnston Marivaux: Three Plays, tr. by Stephen Wadsworth Arthur Schn itzler: Four Major Plays, tr. by Carl Mueller Villeggiatura: The Trilogyby Carlo Goldoni, tr. by Robert Cornthwaite Classics The CoffieSho p by Carlo Goldoni, tr. by Robert Cornthwaite Cyrano deBerge rac by Edmond Rostand, tr. by Charles Marowitz Emperor an d Galilean by Henrik Ibsen, tr. by BrianJohnston A Glass ofWaterby Eugene Scribe, tr. by Robert Cornthwaite Mercadet by Honore de Balzac, tr. by Robert Cornthwaite The Sea Gullby Anton Chekhov, tr. by N. Saunders & F. Dwyer Sp itefor Sp ite by Agustin Moreto, tr. by Dakin Matthews The Summer Peopleby Maxim Gorky, tr. by N. Saunders & F. Dwyer Three Sistersby Anton Chekhov, tr. by Lanford Wilson The WoodDemon by Anton Chekhov, tr. by N. Saunders & F. Dwyer Zoyk a'sAp artmentby Mikhail Bulgakov, tr. by N. Saunders.& F. Dwyer If you require pre-publication information about upcoming Smith and Kraus books, you may receive our semiannual catalogue, free of charge, by sending your name and address to Smith an d Kr aus Catalogue, P.O. Box 127, Lyme, NH 03768. Or call us at {603) 643-6431, fax(603) 922-3348. WWWSmithKr aus .Com Chekhov THE EARLY PLAYS Plato nov a new translation/adaptation Ivanov a new translation The WoodDemon a new translation by Carol Rocamora Great Translations Series SK A Smith and Kraus Book A Smith and Kraus Book Published by Smith and Kraus, Inc. PO Box 127, Lyme, NH 03768 WWWSmithKraus.com Copyright ©1999 Carol Rocamora All rights reserved Manufactured in rhe United States of America Cover and Text Design by Julia Hill Gignoux, Freedom Hill Design First Edition: September 1999 10987 654321 CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs arc hereby warned that lhe plays represented in this book arc subject to a royalty. They arc fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, and of aJI countries covered by the International Copyright Union (including the Dominion of Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth), and of all countries covered by the Pan·American Copyright Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention, and of all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound taping, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproductions such as CD-ROM and CD-I, information storage and reui� systems and photocopying. and the rights of translation imo foreign lan guages, are strictly reserved. Particular emphasis is laid upon the question of public readings. permission for which must be secured from the Author's agent in writing. All inquiries concerning rights, other than amateur righ<S. should be addressed to Smith and Kraus. Inc.. PO Box 127. Lyme, NH 03768. Tel. (603) 643-6431. Fax (603) 643·1 831 The Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data Chekhov, Amon Pavlovich, 1860-1904. [Plays. English. Selections] The early plays I Chekhov ; "Plato nov .. uanslated and adapted by Carol Rocamora ; "Ivanov," "The Wood demon.. transhated by Carol Rocamora. p. em. - (Great translations series) Includes bibliograhical references. ISBN 1·57525·152-3 I. Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich, 1860-1904 Translations imo English. I. Rocamora, Carol. II. Tide. Ill. Tide: Chekhov - the early plays. IV. Series: Great translations for actors•series. PG3456.A19R63 1999 891.72'3-dc21 99-38692 CIP Contents Preface and Acknowledgmems VII Nores from rhe Translaror IX lmroducrion by Carol Rocamora The Plays Plato nov 35 Ivanov 97 The Wo od Demon 157 Chronology of rhe Plays 219 Biographical Chronology 221 Glossary 225 Pronunciarion Guide 232 Selecred Bibliography 239 • "It is roo early for me to begin writing plays... " Chekhov, to Suvorin, 12130/88 Preface An untitled manuscript, never finished ... A melodrama, inciting both praise and condemnation ... A romantic comedy, deemed a fa ilure. The first, he tore to pieces; the second, he rewrote till he was sick of it; the third, he fo rbade to be published. "Stick to short story writing," his critics advised ... These are three early full-lengthplays of young Anton Chekhov, written in his rwenties: rich, bold, exciting, flamboyant plays ...flawed plays ...youthful plays ... The stories of how they were written, and how they were first perceived by Chekhov's public, read like pure melodrama, providing more theatre histri onics than theatre history! The purpose of this collection is threefold: I) to introduce lovers of Chekhov to the early plays, with a new translation/adaptation of the unfinished Platonov {1880-8 1), and new translations of Ivanov {1887) and Th e Wood Demon {1889); 2) to introduce readers to the young Chekhov, with a short biographi cal portrait of his rwenties; 3) to offer insight into how these early plays served as rich and vital sources fo r the later, mature works. This collection is intended to complement my other rwo volumes of trans lations published by Smith & Kraus: Ch ekhov: Four Plays (1996) and Chekhov: The Va udevilles {I998). Together, these three volumes constitute the complete collected, translated plays of Anton Chekhov. While I have titled this collection The Early Plays, in my heart I think of it as The Young Chekhov - because of the energy and ambition of these exuberant works, and the passion and determination with which its young author dedi cated himself to making his mark on his beloved theatre. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To my publishers, Marisa Smith and Eric Kraus, I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks fo r their love of theatre and of Chekhov, and fo r their endorsement and support of my work. In addition, I wish to express my deepest appreciation to the following: fo r editorial assistance and dedication, Matt Cheney and Maria VII Headley; fo r imporrant supporr, Janet Neipris and all my colleagues and stu dents in the Dramatic Writing Program at New Yo rk University's Tisch School of the Arts; fo r their resources, The Bryn Mawr College Library and Head Librarian Anne Slater; fo r comments, Andrey Shenin, Julia Smeliansky, Michael Hollinger, D. B. Gilles; fo r production and design, Julia Hill Gignoux; for additional supporr, Elizabeth Monteleone and all the others at Smith & Kraus. I am further indebted lO the fo llowing actors who par�icipated in the first reading of Platonov in March, 1999: Pearce Bunting, Forrest Compton, Julia Gibson, Mira Kingsley, Chris McFarland, Katie McNichol, Joel Rooks, John Rothm�n, To dd Weeks, Susan Wilder, Bill Wise, Frank Wo od. Thanks also to Hilary Missan fo r casting the reading, and to NYU's Graduate Acting Program, Anne Matthews and Anne Washburn fo r hosting the reading. Furrher thanks to the People's Light and Theatre Company in Malvern, Pennsylvania, fo r hosting a reading of Ivanov in October, 1996, and to the fo llowing actors who partici pated: Jeff Bleam, Aida Correse, Eric Hissom, Louis Lippa, Mary Matthews, Steve Novelli, Kathryn Peterson, Marcia Saunders, To m Te ti, Juanita Vega, Doug Wing. Notes from the Translator Bringing Ivanov and The Wood Demon to tife fo r the contemporary srage requires straightforward translations fr om the original texts, respectful of the language, the intent, and the spirit of their_ author. fu in my other two pub lished volumes of Chekhov's plays, I have sought to create living translations fo r the purposes of reading and performance rhar are fa ithful to rhe original Russian language, while at the same rime fluid fo r the contemporary English speaking actor and accessible to modern audiences. Bringing Chekhov's first extant play to life fo r rhe contemporary stage poses a different challenge. There are so many questions fo r the translator to address. How does one approach a play that, in irs original fo rm, would fill 137 pages of this book? lr would run over seven hours long if translated and per fo rmed uncut. What is its genre? Irs tone is wildly uneven: at rimes fa rcical, then broadly comedic, rhen melodramatic, then moralistic. What about irs structure? lr is written in fo ur acts, bur one act has two long scenes - therefore, in actuality, it is more like a five-act play. Irs first act alone would run over two hours in playing rime, making ir almost the length of rhe entire Un cle Vtmya.1 What about irs fo rmat? Unlike rhe later, mature plays, which are rich in ensem ble, rhis youthful endeavor consists primarily of an endless sequence of two character scenes, one afterrhe other, fo r most of rhe 137 pages! And what about rhe cast? With its twenty characters, it is an embarrassment of dramatic riches, and yet, given some of these portrayals, one might also say ir is rich in dramatic embarrassments. Then there is the confusing issue of the play's identity. Is it the first or second play that Chekhov wrote: the one entitled Fa therless, which he wrote alone in Taganrog at the age of seventeen and sent to his brothers in Moscow? Or is ir the sprawling, untitled manuscript with a leading character named Platonov, which he wrote while in medical school at rhe age of twenry-one? And what difference does it make to rhe translator? In the 1974-82 Soviet edition of Chekhov's Complete Collected Works and Letters in 30 Volumes fr om which I ix translated this play, the editors tide it Fa therless.