I saw the final day of the run: three tragedies, three bullets, three corpses; countless tortured souls, vodkas, and laughs; one great day of theatre!
I’m always reading that when it comes to writing characters that have lives of their own, defy being pigeonholed or any sort of authorial agenda, and that are ultimately unfathomable, no one comes near to Shakespeare and then Chekhov. That’s reason enough to want to see and read Chekhov’s plays.
And then there’s the secondary literature. I love to read books by directors, about how they put plays together, and directors love to use examples from Shakespeare and Chekhov, because those are the richest, deepest, truest examples. Perhaps the most interesting such book that I have attempted is “Different Every Night”, by Mike Alfreds. Outside the profession, Alfreds is almost unheard of, yet people of the likes of Sir Ian McKellen claim that he is one of the three best directors of our time. And I love his book, though I’ve not made it through it and grasp it only in part. Alfreds digs deep into the nature of drama, and of what we can do to increase our chances of realising living theatre with each and every performance. And Alfreds especially draws on Chekhov. So, for me, an essential part of my Shakespeare Quest, of trying to grasp just what theatre is all about, entails encounters with Chekhov.
These three plays are Chekhov’s first, brought together in one brand new volume of interpretations by contemporary English dramatist David Hare, and produced on one stage, in one day, at the Chichester Festival Theatre. The texts, available from Faber & Faber, are known as Young Chekhov, and the Chichester subtitle was The Birth of a Genius. It’s fascinating to see how he developed, and if one couldn’t see these side by side, on the same stage with the same actors, it would be much harder to appreciate his growth as a writer.
“I certainly would agree with the book’s assertion that they are ‘blazing dramas’, with ‘thrilling sunbursts of youthful anger and romanticism’.”
This was an opportunity not to be missed; one for which the theatrical community turned out in force, much as they did just a couple of weeks ago in Kingston-upon-Thames, for the Rose Theatre’s three-in-a-day revival of the RSC’s 1963 Wars of the Roses package. Not only was there theatre royalty, such as playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, but all sorts of familiar faces from the stage, such as the actors who played Agamemnon/Aegistus and Clytemnestra in this year’s Oresteia at the Almeida Theatre, and plenty of hardcoretheatregoers.
I had a blast talking with them. Taking full advantage of being a North American who simply doesn’t know any better, I went up andchatted with Sir Tom, Agamemnon, and Clytemnestra. And I had the most wonderful chat with the gentleman sitting next to me for all three plays. Maybe he was about 60, and like me, he only started to go to plays a few years ago (he in 2009 and I in 2013), but he far outpaces my consumption. This year, I’m seeing 80 plays in England: he’s seeing 160. Last year he saw 130. Of course he lives here, but still, that’s something!
And as for the plays themselves: of course I don’t have any knowledge by which I could compare these plays or productions with others, but I certainly would agree with the book’s assertion that they are “blazing dramas”, with “thrilling sunbursts of youthful anger and romanticism”. What surprised and delighted me, which is to say what I did not get from reading them, is just how funny they are. They have great characters, embodying fascinating mixtures of dark and light, which shine forth in all they say and do. And as almost always in England, the productions had wonderful actors.
If you missed them in Chichester, the good news is that you’ll be able to catch them in London, at the National, at some as yet undetermined date. I’m going to go several times. Feel free to join me.
Reviews: