Three Sisters (TCG Edition)

by Anton Chekhov, Paul Schmidt

Overview

“Wonderfully fresh and affecting.” – Ben Brantley, New York Times

“This lucid interpretation rewards with its deep understanding of a complex play.” –David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

The works of Russia’s greatest playwright, Anton Chekhov, masterfully blend comedy and pathos, creating a richness of texture and characterization rarely seen since Shakespeare. With Three Sisters (1901), his portrait of the Prozorov family’s elusive dream of returning from the provinces to an idealized Moscow, he captured a restlessness and yearning which remain enduringly modern. In Paul Schmidt’s version – the basis for the Wooster Group’s acclaimed adaptation Brace Up! – we can perceive, for the first time in English, a refreshingly clear and colloquial style we instinctively know as Chekhov’s own.

ANTON CHEKHOV (1860-1904) led a double life as a practicing physician and a celebrated author of short stories and plays. The Moscow Art Theater’s stagings of The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard and Three Sisters – under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavsky – secured Chekhov’s reputation as a world-class dramatist.

PAUL SCHMIDT edited Meyerhold at Work and has translated writings by Rimbaud, Khlebnikov, Gogol, Kaiser, Mayakovsky and Genet. Recipient of an NEA fellowship and of a doctorate in Russian from Harvard University, his translations, adaptations and original plays have been performed across the country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781559360555
Publisher:	Theatre Communications Group
Publication date:	01/01/1993
Series:	TCG Translations
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was one of the most prominent Russian writers of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Initially writing to support his income as a physician, he gained widespread acclaim as a short story writer and playwright and his work has had a profound influence on modern drama. His plays include Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard.

Michael Frayn is an award-winning British playwright, novelist and translator. His translations of Chekhov's plays have been acclaimed and widely performed.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Right up there with the best ever Three Sisters (by Laurence Olivier, Jonathan Miller, Trevor Nunn, Field Day and the Katona Josef in Budapest) but a sensational breakthrough and a poetic revelation at the same time, and in its own gloriously idiosyncratic manner." – Michael Coveney, What’s On Stage (5 stars)

"Andrews has come up with a bracingly original vision: he turns the play inside out, bashes it around, and drops in anachronisms, yet his approach yields revelatory results. In the end, against the odds, this is a moving and absorbing Three Sisters" – Evening Standard

"This version does not set out to endear itself to traditionalists… has a jagged energy and a powerful sense of conviction" – The Independent

"Energising, modern… grabs some of the most thorny Chekhov questions about human existence with a firm unsentimental grip" – Huffington Post

"Profoundly moving… this is Chekhov refreshed and reimagined." – Guardian

"One of the most exciting Chekhovs in years… often hilarious yet, crucially, full of moments of stillness and pain" – Metro

"The textbook opposite of a cosy West End revival… gives a chill distillation of a comfortless vision present in the original" – The Telegraph

"Traditionalists may fulminate, but I was blown away." – Daily Mail

"A commendable job of reinvigorating the play, making it readily accessible by injecting the dialogue with suitably modern concepts." – London Theatre

Editorial Reviews

“Wonderfully fresh and affecting.” – Ben Brantley, New York Times

“This lucid interpretation rewards with its deep understanding of a complex play.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter



“Wonderfully fresh and affecting.” – Ben Brantley, New York Times

“This lucid interpretation rewards with its deep understanding of a complex play.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

From the Publisher

Ivan R. Dee's excellent discussions are recommended.... Among the best of recent publications: a new adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is provided by Dorothy Louise: while it remains faithful to her intentions, Frankenstein's new look tailors a play for performance and provides a strong plot suitable for contemporary drama. Similarly does Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters, with Curt Columbus providing the new translation and Nicholas Rudall and Bernard Sahlins working their editing magic on both productions.

Library Bookwatch

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

Weekly Standard