100% Comedy 100% Chekhov

Synopsis

This production features a collection of Anton Chekhov’s funniest and most revered one-act plays including The Bear, The Sneeze, The Jubilee & The Wedding. Many of Chekhov’s one act and short stories were written as entertainment in his local comic magazines and to support his family financially. He saw these as ‘amusing trifles’ but it is really through his shorter pieces of writing that audiences can get a true sense of his comedic talents. These works provided a platform for Chekhov’s full length plays by exploring themes of everyday life and his brand of stock characters.

Our Review:

31 July 2009

Whilst not exactly 100% funny, this collection of four short plays presented by BlackSun doesn’t fall too short of the mark, and provides an enjoyable contrast to the more intense drama commonly associated with Chekhov’s writing.

The four plays brought together for 100% Comedy, 100% Chekhov - The Sneeze, The Bear, The Jubilee and The Wedding - flow well together with the aid of Laura Bateman’s stage design, which situates the comedies very firmly in the period in which they were written. A plot synopsis would diminish the humour of these pieces; suffice to say that they touch upon some of the deeper issues that Chekhov explores in his later writing, such as family dynamics, the aristocracy and gender roles. That said, they are all essentially comic in nature. While the humour is dated and less amusing by contemporary standards (admittedly the point of situating the comedies in their original period)...

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Latest User Review

Liz - 16 August 2009:

Don't bother....

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