Three Sisters

by Anton Chekhov, Laurence Senelick (Translator)

Overview

“Senelick’s accomplishment is astounding.”—Library Journal

Anton Chekhov is a unique force in modern drama, his works cherished for their brilliant wit and insight into the human condition. In this stunning new translation of one of Chekhov’s most popular and beloved plays, Laurence Senelick presents a fresh perspective on the master playwright and his groundbreaking dramas. He brings this timeless trial of art and love to life as memorable characters have clashing desires and lose balance in the shifting eruptions of society and a modernizing Russia. Supplementing the play is an account of Chekhov’s life; a note on the translation; an introduction to the work; and variant lines, often removed due to government censorship, which illuminate the context in which they were written. This edition is the perfect guide to enriching our understanding of this great dramatist or to staging a production.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393339475
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	07/12/2010
Series:	Stage Edition Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	426 KB

About the Author

Anton Chekhov was born on January 29, 1860 in Taganrog, Russia. He graduated from the University of Moscow in 1884. Chekhov died of tuberculosis in Germany on July 14, 1904, shortly after his marriage to actress Olga Knipper, and was buried in Moscow.
Laurence Senelick is the Fletcher Professor of Drama and Oratory at Tufts University and author of more than a dozen books, including the award-winning The Chekhov Theatre and The Changing Room: Sex, Drag, and the Theatre. He is director of his own translations of Gogol’s The Inspector General (1998) and Euripides’ The Bakkhai (2001).

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

It was inevitable that the American theater's most Chekhovian writer, Lanford Wilson, would be asked to translate Chekhov. The great Russian's influence marks virtually all of Wilson's plays, from "Balm in Gilead" to "Fifth of July" and "Talley's Folly". What could not have been predicted was how sensitive and intelligent a translator Wilson would be. First commissioned by the Hartford Stage Company in the early 1980s and rewritten several times since its first production in 1984, Wilson's "Three Sisters" is a breathtaking, evocative work in which every character springs to life on the page. Of course, even in stilted translations, one feels for the play's central characters--Olga, Masha, and Irina--and their fruitless yearning to transcend their petty lives and see Moscow. But in Wilson's literate, highly readable version, one comes to understand and feel sympathy even for the play's so-called villainess, the gauche upstart sister-in-law, Natalya. We eagerly await Wilson's next translating project: "Uncle Vanya".

Jack Helbig

We value [Chekhov] for his juxtaposition of comedy and emotional pain, his penetration into character and his understanding of the eternal truths of human nature.” —Telegraph

From the Publisher

"Pevear and Volokhonsky are at once scrupulous translators and vivid stylists of English."

New Yorker

"Pevear and Volokhonsky are at once scrupulous translators and vivid stylists of English."

New Yorker

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

The full-cast performance of THREE SISTERS is a delightful and immediately rewarding experience. The listener vicariously enjoys the stage production along with the audience in the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, savoring sound effects that are enlightening and never overpowering. The performers contribute to the strong interpretation, achieving an ideal pace and lively interaction. Vibrant and educated Russian sisters long to escape the dull rural regions of the land and to return to the thrilling, animated life in Moscow. After their father's death, they achieve their desired relocation—with dire consequences—as the period's history proves. A.W. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2011 - AudioFile