Overview

This 90 minute play traces the relationship between Anton Chekhov and Lyka, the girl who was the inspiration for Nina in The Seagull. She was a friend of his sister's and fell in love with Chekhov, who was very fond of her but found himself unable to actually commit himself to her. Desperate to rouse his interest, she has an affair with a married man, becomes pregnant, loses her child, and her hoped for career in the theatre does not materialize, but she is the person who is there for him after the first, disastrous production of The Seagull, when he's totally disgusted with the theatre, and is there again towards the end of his life, perhaps really there, or only in his mind. Also memorable is the confrontation between Chekhov and Stanislavsky after Chekhov's appalled first viewing of the great Moscow Art Theatre production, and Stanislavsky's funny and passionate defense of his production and of the theatre as an art form. A touching and funny play about the relationship between love and creation, with some very strong audition material in the form of monologues by Chekhov, Lyka and Stanislavsky.

Published in Emotion Memory & Other Plays.

Keywords

• Betrayal
• Friendship
• Love
• Memory
• Not Applicable