Five Plays: Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard (Oxford World's Classics)
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Chekhov plays
  • Nice, but not Chekhov
  • Uncle Vanya the greatest play of the last century
  • Uncle Vanya was my personal favorite
  • I liked this book
Five Plays: Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard (Oxford World's Classics)
Anton Chekhov
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192834126

Book Description

This volume contains English translations of: Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard, with a new Introduction by Ronald Hingley.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Chekhov plays.......2007-04-11

Plays in general have a tendency to be overly-dramatic. Thus the name "drama". Chekhov definitely used this drama aspect to enhance his plays. He succeeded with some, making them dramatic, awe-inspiring, and amazing. Others? Less so.

I enjoyed reading all of these plays, and I won't deny that. Some, however, are harder to read and to understand than others. It's especially difficult to remember what character is which in each play, especially since in Ivanov, all the names are long and complex. While good plays themselves, I constantly had to flip back to the character list just to remember who that is, a problem rarely found in other plays, such as Ibsen's works.

The plays themselves are good. Each one has its own charm and interest. They're a pleasant read, but a difficult one. It's not something you can just breeze through. Reading these plays needs time and effort, which may be too much for some. If you're looking for any old Chekhov, settle for his stories, like "Ward number six", or even his short little stories. If you're looking for plays (not Shakespeare, that is), go for Ibsen. If you think you can handle this, take it on, but be warned that this is not an easy read.

2 out of 5 stars Nice, but not Chekhov.......2003-03-29

This translation is a nice effort -- at rewriting the original, extremely subtle text as a modern English drama according to the tastes and limitations of the translator. If you're looking to capture the true genius of Chekhov, try another.

5 out of 5 stars Uncle Vanya the greatest play of the last century.......2002-11-21

There are only two modern dramatists that are masters one is Peter Shaffer who wrote the maliciously marvelous Amadeus and the plays of Anton Chekhov the best of which is uncle vanya, the best dipiction of real life its tragedy, its joy and its drama. From the Tolstoyan Astrov, to the depressed Vanya, to the beautiful but vain Yelena. This is a play about life...all people can relate to it in some way and I think Chekhov's philosophy of life is...sublime

5 out of 5 stars Uncle Vanya was my personal favorite.......2000-03-18

Anton Chekhov was a writer who was able to capture the essence of life and inter-personal relationships in his stories. His writing is simple yet powerful and emotionally affecting. Uncle Vanya deals with envy, male-female relationships, despair, and takes a look at life from a realist perspective.

5 out of 5 stars I liked this book.......2000-02-23

I read Uncle Vanya for an English class at my school and I have to say I enjoyed it immensely. Chekhov is able to capture life and the daily struggle of living in a single stroke. Chekhov explores male and female love relationships, self-realization, opposite sex attraction and more. Chekhov's writing in these five plays focus mainly on dialogue and the interactions that take place between his life-like characters. Anton Chekhov has the rare ability to articulate through his story telling the essence of human existence.
Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard (Plays in Production)
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard (Plays in Production)
    James N. Loehlin
    Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    3. The Cherry Orchard The Cherry Orchard

    ASIN: 0521533309

    Book Description

    Chekhov’s masterpiece, about a Russian family losing its ancestral home, combines a lament for a vanishing past with a hopeful dream of the future. In the century since its first performance, The Cherry Orchard has undergone a wide range of conflicting interpretations: tragic and comic, naturalistic and symbolic, reactionary and radical. Beginning with the 1904 premiere at Stanislavsky’s Moscow Art Theatre, this study traces the performance history of one of the landmark plays of the modern theatre. Considering the work of such directors as Anatoly Efros, Giorgio Strehler, Peter Brook, and Peter Stein, Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard explores the way different artists, periods and cultures have reinvented Chekhov’s poignant comedy of failure and hope.
    The Cherry Orchard (Dover Thrift Editions)
    Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
    • Checkhov for Dummies
    • On Chekhov's art
    • Is it a comedy or not?
    • Poor Delivery
    • Unbeatable price for this historical tragi-comedy
    The Cherry Orchard (Dover Thrift Editions)
    Anton Chekhov
    Manufacturer: Dover Publications
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 0486266826

    Book Description

    Classic of world drama concerns the passing of the old semifeudal order in turn-of-the-century Russia, symbolized in the sale of the cherry orchard owned by Madame Ranevskaya. The work also showcases the great Russian writer's rich sensitivities as an observer of human nature. An inexpensive, high-quality edition, reprinted from a standard edition of the play.

    Download Description

    PISCHIN. Well . . Dashenka told me. Now I'm in such a position, I wouldn't mind forging them . . . I've got to pay 310 roubles the day after to-morrow . . . I've got 130 already. . . . [Feels his pockets, nervously] I've lost the money! The money's gone! [Crying] Where's the money? [Joyfully] Here it is behind the lining . . . I even began to perspire.

    Customer Reviews:

    1 out of 5 stars Checkhov for Dummies.......2007-07-18

    This is an abysmal production. To anyone outside of LA the accents will become tiresome (I'm so `stoopid'; in the `bairth'-house etc) and the translation and acting style make this play sound like an episode of a soap opera. The recording begins like so many audio books with an unnecessary spoken introduction - "The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov ...." (like if I was expecting Dolly Parton!). And to make matters worse, the announcer claims it is recorded before a live audience. It is patently not so, there are sound effects galore, including a pathetically obvious laugh track purported to be the audience but not one hint of an actor walking across the stage and, apart from the canned laughter, not a cough, murmur, shuffle or peep from the audience. Nice try LA Theatreworks, it might do for a bored 10th grader who is too lazy to read the text but the whole thing sounds like a bunch of second rate actors with no idea of what they doing. They might get walk-ons in The Bold and the Beautiful if they try harder but this fake acting in front of a fake audience is an insult.

    5 out of 5 stars On Chekhov's art .......2006-08-21

    Chekhov's plays work on many different levels. On the one it is the story of the characters' relationships to each other. Often in Chekhov there is disillusionment and disappointment, misunderstanding and desire unrealized. Often too the characters have ideas and dreams about themselves which simply do not find their justification in the world. But in all this there is always interspersed moments of tenderness and poignancy, of delicate feeling, perceptions of beauty.
    On another level there are ' major themes'. Here it is of the Old Order passing and the coming of the new. The 'Cherry Orchard' is the symbol of this. And the purchase of it by the former serf Lopahin is the sign of the transition taking place in Russia. The old order people, Ranskanaya her daughters and brother cling to the older world, refuse to sell it out by accepting the offer to build on it dachas, and connect it with the railway line. But in the end the extravagance of Ranskaya is forced to yield, and the 'Cherry Orchard' is cut down.
    In the final moments of the play the elderly servant Firs, the true symbol of the one raised in the old order and too deeply connected to it, to ever leave it, lies down and seems to pass away.
    Chekhov's art is an art of sadness and beauty, of cruelty and change , but above all of human character and feeling portrayed in complexity and contradiction- and in a language of poetic compression deep in feeling.

    3 out of 5 stars Is it a comedy or not?.......2005-10-24

    I couldn't figure out whether this was a comedy or not. It says at the beginning of the play that it is, but for the most part it seemed really depressing to me. I know technically you can't call it a tragedy because the heroine didn't cause her own downfall, but still, it most certainly was NOT a comedy.
    All that aside, I thought the play was fairly enjoyable. It is basically about a rich family in Russia who are forced to sell their estate and cherry orchard because they have no money. Altogether, it was fairly interesting, but confusing. The character's names were so similar that I had to keep looking back to figure out who was who. Three stars.

    3 out of 5 stars Poor Delivery.......2005-10-02

    The item itself was in great condition. However, the package got lost in the mail so they shipped me another copy, which I received. I was grateful for this, but I really needed the book early on and had to wait almost a month to receive a copy.

    4 out of 5 stars Unbeatable price for this historical tragi-comedy.......2004-12-10

    Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard is a play about social classes: what their members are, what they do, and how they interact. The problem is, at the turn of the 20th century in Russia, society is evolving and class distinctions are being effaced to an ever greater degree. The central questions involve how a member of a once-clear caste, whether aristocrat or serf, should now behave in the new social milieu. A character-based analysis seems the most effective way to discuss these issues.

    On the one hand are those, such as the old butler Firs, deeply attached to the former ways, who see the past a golden age to be preserved as much as possible. Most of the family also falls into this category. At the other extreme are people like the student Petya, who welcome the changes and, in certain cases, wish for even greater revolution in society. The prosperous merchant Lopakhin, for instance, tends more toward this attitude than the other.

    And then there are those who simply live the lives they have always lived out of sheer habit, having no strong feelings about, and indeed largely ignoring, the societal transformations going on around them--much to their detriment. There are the servants, such as the gardener Yepikhodov and the maid Dunyasha, who evince this unambitious and desultory mindset toward their lives. But there are also the two daughters, whose only thought in the world is to get married, though even then it seems more a wish and a fancy that they rest their lives on than a real goal towards which they are committed to work. They likely inherited this trait from their mother Lyubov.

    Indeed, Lyubov is one of the two central characters around which the play revolves. The house and the cherry orchard belong to her and her eccentric, overly optimistic, and in some respects nave brother Gaev. Lyubov is an expensive and an attractive woman. Her chief characteristic, without a doubt, is a lack of continence, both emotionally and fiscally, for the latter often follows the former in her case. The open purse is her symbol. She lives through rose-colored glasses, and because of this is gullible. Betrayed and ruined, she never learns; indeed, at the end of the play we see her returning to Paris, surely to be disappointed once again. She wants everything to work out; but she refuses to adapt and to face the consequences and responsibilities that would allow her plans to succeed. At one point she says, in a trademark quote of hers, "What is one to do in one's life? One is to drink one's coffee." Having lived always in luxury, she is spoiled, and like so many of her class she will not learn her lesson until it is too late.

    The other central character of the play is the rich and shrewd peasant Lopakhin. In short, he is a prosperous pragmatist. Through agriculture enterprises and a keen business sense, Lopakhin has amassed a fortune. His mind thinks only of money and of work, never of love or other more human affairs. When romance is suggested, he is receptive to the possibility but is soon pulled from it because it is not central to who he is. He has a sort of tunnel vision, for he is obsessed with proving himself to his serf father's ghost by earning and gaining more and continuously striving to shed the status of peasant, a reproach which clings to him and burns in his memory. This is clearly an inescapable influence in his life. His hands, always working and never at rest, are the center of his character and are symbolic of his essence. He confesses at the end, "I feel like my hands belong to someone else." His statement could hardly be more accurate. Lopakhin represents one side of the serf's struggle to comprehend and to appropriate their newly gained freedoms. "When I work hard," he says, "then I am at peace." In one scene he tries to force Petya to accept money from him, for material prosperity means very little to him. He achieves his external goals, but throughout the play he seems blind as to the direction his internal quest must take. He is seeking to come to rest in an identity, and it is unclear whether he ever does.

    This ambiguity is the permeating mood at the end of the play. Society has changed and will continue to do so. But whether any of the characters will find firm identities in the new structure is never resolved. Rather, Chekhov leaves us with the death of the old guard: the butler Firs, pro-aristocrat to the end. This is a visible way of showing that although classes may rise and fall, when a large section of the populace's self-concepts are bound up with a class, change is hard.
    Chekhov: The Four Major Plays: Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, Cherry Orchard
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • The most actable translations I've read
    Chekhov: The Four Major Plays: Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, Cherry Orchard
    Anton Chekhov
    Manufacturer: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

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    ASIN: 1566636256

    Book Description

    In these fresh, vibrant new translations of Chekhov's four greatest plays--Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and Cherry Orchard--the brilliant theatrical translator Curt Columbus recaptures the master's open-ended simplicity. Curt Columbus loves actors and his new translations of Chekhov's four major plays are his gift to them. These are wonderfully actable, clear, and concise, and Columbus has perfectly captured Chekhov's unique blend of comic and tragic sensibilities. --Robert Falls, Artistic Director, Goodman Theatre

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars The most actable translations I've read.......2005-02-18

    I've been reading and studying these plays for years now, and have read through and worked out of numerous different translations. Curt Columbus' versions of these four mighty plays are exceedingly well done. They are eminently actable and highly accessible to a modern audience. Yes, he does make some small adjustments, notably choosing to call each character by one consistent name, instead of using all of the various forms. Purists may scoff, but it removes a barrier to understanding for a modern theatregoer. Highly recommended for anyone directing Chekhov or teaching it to students.
    The Cherry Orchard (The Samuel French Theater Bookshop, #5068)
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      The Cherry Orchard (The Samuel French Theater Bookshop, #5068)

      Manufacturer: Samuel French, Inc.
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      Mamet, DavidMamet, David | ( M ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
      Chekhov, AntonChekhov, Anton | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
      ASIN: B000ELAUYQ
      Plays: Ivanov; The Seagull; Uncle Vanya; Three Sisters; The Cherry Orchard (Penguin Classics)
      Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
      • Somewhat interesting
      Plays: Ivanov; The Seagull; Uncle Vanya; Three Sisters; The Cherry Orchard (Penguin Classics)
      Anton Chekhov
      Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

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      ASIN: 0140447334
      Release Date: 2002-09-03

      Book Description

      Anton Chekhov wrote that "narrative is my legal wife and drama a flamboyant, rowdy, impudent, exhausting mistress." At a time when the Russian stage was dominated by farces, formulaic melodramas, and vaudevilles, Chekhov created plays that focused on characters grappling with moral questions. His works baffled his audiences, but his sensitive explorations of love, loss, and time as well as his portrayal of complex characters and ambiguities, revolutionized the theater with an exhilarating new form of drama.

      This volume includes new translations, full explanatory notes, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, and a glossary, as well as an introduction by eminent Chekhov scholar Richard Gilman.

      Customer Reviews:

      4 out of 5 stars Somewhat interesting.......2005-03-05

      I had to read this for a class that I had. I know it is representative of Russian literature, but it's very bleak and depressing. None of the plays have a really happy ending, but they do have good endings. My least favorite of the plays was Three Sisters, and my favorite was Cherry Orchard. Three Sisters, in my opinion is about the most bleak, unsatisfying, and depressing play about life and love I have ever read. Cherry Orchard is, in my opinion well thought out, bad things happen in this play, but there are reasons for these occurances, and it also has the most satisfying ending of all the plays in this book. Seagull, Uncle Vanya, and Ivanov aren't really bad, but aren't spectacular. If you want to read a light-hearted and easy going play, don't read this. They were interesting enough for me to give this four stars, they aren't bad for the most part, but aren't spectacular either.
      The Plays of Anton Chekhov: Nine Plays Including the Sea-gull, the Cherry Orchard, the Three Sisters And Others
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        The Plays of Anton Chekhov: Nine Plays Including the Sea-gull, the Cherry Orchard, the Three Sisters And Others
        Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
        Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback

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        ASIN: 1417943319

        Book Description

        The Russian writer Chekhov was noted for his masterful short stories and lyrical dramas. His stories, though often based on themes profoundly tragic, are penetrated by the light and subtle satire that has won him his reputation as a great humorist. Contents: The Sea-Gull; The Cherry Orchard; Three Sisters; Uncle Vanya; The Anniversary; On the High Road; The Wedding; On the Harmfulness of Tobacco; and The Bear. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
        Four Great Plays By Anton Chekhov - The Sea Gull/The Cherry Orchard/Three Sisters/Uncle Vanya
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Four Great Plays By Anton Chekhov - The Sea Gull/The Cherry Orchard/Three Sisters/Uncle Vanya
          Anton Chekhov
          Manufacturer: New York: Bantam Books, 1958
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback
          ASIN: B000LVLLJW
          Chekov for the Stage: The Seagull/Uncle Vanya/The Three Sisters/ The Cherry Orchard
          Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
          • Chekov was a master playwright.
          • A Dramatic Classic
          Chekov for the Stage: The Seagull/Uncle Vanya/The Three Sisters/ The Cherry Orchard
          Anton Chekhov
          Manufacturer: Northwestern University Press
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          Binding: Paperback

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          Customer Reviews:

          5 out of 5 stars Chekov was a master playwright........2005-01-15

          I read an edition that had only two of these plays, so my review is based on two plays only - "The Cherry Orchard" and "The Three Sisters". Chekov's trademark is to write about strong and determined women. This is quite a stretch since the plays were written in the very early twentieth century. These plays are superbly crafted, and the drama unfolds like a flower in slow motion photography. His characters in both are also wonderful. It would be a real treat to see even one of these masterpieces performed on the stage. I recommend this author highly to anyone interested in adding plays to their reading repertoire

          4 out of 5 stars A Dramatic Classic.......2000-06-17

          I thuroughly enjoyed the works of Chekhov, the writer who helped define the famous Moscow Art Theatre. His plot twists are a bit difficult to grasp outside of a theatre, but still very enjoyable.

          Chekhov utilizes a realistic writing style. Fantastic and absurd stories where the actors just flailed around on stage and delivered their lines were of little use to him. His plays can be viewed in many different ways. A scene that at one moment can seem tragic, can be comedic if looked at another way. There is no consistant good or evil in a Chekhov piece. He once wrote, "depict life as it actually is. Its aim is truth, unconditional and honest... a man of letters... has to... realize that dung heaps play a very significant role in a landscape and that evil passions are as inherent in life as good ones." He wanted the emotions that the characters were experiencing to be sensed in the actions of the actors on stage, not in the words that anyone could sit down and read. This makes his work some of the more difficult to perform in theatre today. Only an experienced actor who is able to create a reality of their character is capable of performing a Chekhov play. Chekhov's comedies are often mistaken for tragidies. They are actually perfect examples of high comedy. In a true tragedy, the main characters have some heroic qualities that make their fall devestating to the audience. The characters in Chekhov's plays "The Seagull," and "The Cherry Orchard" have no such qualities. Chekhov also had a very particular way of writing his play. He set out with a purpose. He felt that the writer of the play needed a clearly defined reason to be writing, or else they would find themselves lost with a mediocre piece of work.
          The Cherry Orchard
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            The Cherry Orchard
            Anton Checkov
            Manufacturer: Oberon Books
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback

            GeneralGeneral | Theater | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
            GeneralGeneral | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
            19th Century19th Century | British & Irish | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
            ASIN: 187025953X

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