Tears and Laughter in the World of Anton Chekhov

Catalog description

Chekhov’s theatre has been an impartial and compassionate mirror not only for his generation but for human society across different eras and places for more than a century. The world-acclaimed writer began his literary career as an author of short humorous stories for entertainment and satire magazines. With time, as he brought a more complex emotional palette and existential themes to his oeuvre, he conceived his celebrated dramatic style that weds tragic and serious meanings with skeptical laughter. The visions of human loneliness, disconnectedness and boredom, unrequited love and existential meaninglessness in Chekhov’s dramatic masterpieces are interspersed with humor and irony and combined with comedic presentations of characters. The purpose of this course is a hands-on examination of Chekhov’s style through a practical attempt to stage Chekhov’s work. The first part of the course will be focused on examining Chekhov’s comedic style against the background of the tradition of laughter in Russian literature. Then we will attempt a dramatic interpretation of Chekhov’s play or a theatrical adaptation of his short-stories, using the ideas we discovered while reading his short prose. The students will be able to choose how they would like to contribute to the project: by acting, directing, stage management or stage design. The play will be performed in front of a live audience at the end of the semester.