Overview
In this very funny play, Nigro presents a richly textured Chekhovian universe, not a parody of a Chekhov play so much as a deep immersion in the atmosphere of Chekhov's work, played as a dark human farce. In the summer of 1900, Nikolay, a celebrated Russian writer, is visiting his friend Dr. Radetsky at the Volkonsky estate, where the eccentric and somewhat amorous widow Irina lives with her three beautiful daughters: Natasha, who is unhappily married to the tortured, jealous and dangerous Grigorayev, Katya, a teacher who is passionately interested in social reform and is trying unsuccessfully to teach the peasants to play the violin, and Anya, young and impressionable, who wants to be a writer and idolizes Nikolay. In fact, Nikolay has had an affair with Natasha at a seaside resort, and his arrival sets off a chain reaction of lust, jealousy and misunderstanding that threatens to get somebody killed in the gazebo. Radetsky can't stop falling in love, Nikolay can't stop women falling in love with him, Irina is trying to get Radetsky into the labyrinth, the three sisters quarrel over Nikolay, and Grigorayev has a gun and is determined to get to the bottom of things. A play that manages to be touching and tragic while remaining uproariously funny, this journey into a Chekhovian gazebo is a unique piece of work.