[NEohioPAL] 2 Great Reviews of RUSSIANS IN LOVE at Actors' Summit Final 4 Performances

[Neil Thackaberry]

Chekhov rarities in Hudson 

Two sketches make English-speaking debut. Expert acting enlivens four
humorous classics 

By Kerry Clawson 
Beacon Journal staff writer 

Published on Tuesday, Jan 27, 2009 

Rage can be a powerful aphrodisiac. 

Master humorist Anton Chekhov certainly understood that in his classic
comedy The Bear (1888), a tale of a quirky mating dance that's packaged
with three other Chekhov comedies in Russians in Love at Actors' Summit.


Two of Chekhov's comedic sketches receive their world English-language
premiere at the Hudson theater - In the Spring (1887), with its
surprising feline plot, and the ultimately naughty The Dimwit (1883). 

The ultra-short sketches (In the Spring and The Dimwit) were discovered
and translated by Russian-born George Malko of New York, a playwright,
screenwriter and novelist. 

After being born into poverty, Chekhov (1860-1904) became both a
physician and a celebrated writer/dramatist in Moscow. His classic plays
are Uncle Vanya, The Seagull, Two Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. 

He's also known as one of the greatest short story writers in
literature, so it's refreshing for local audiences to have the
opportunity to see two of his unknown comic sketches. 

I've got to give actor Keith Stevens big credit for pulling off an
outrageous cat suit in the opening In the Spring. It was an odd way to
start this evening of Chekhov, and may have been better inserted between
the play's two longer comedies. 

Instead, it appears director Neil Thackaberry chose to build momentum
toward the stars of the show: the farces The Proposal (1888) and The
Bear (also translated as The Boor or The Brute). Their translations by
Malko are receiving their second professional production. 

These two plays fit together perfectly because they're the inverse of
one another: In the first, a man appears at a woman's house with
intentions of love that devolve into a fight, and in the other, a man
appears at a woman's home ready to fight, and as a result, falls in
love. 

Stevens and Constance Thackaberry, real-life husband and wife, play off
each other beautifully in The Proposal, the most ridiculously funny
marriage proposal I've seen on stage. 

Satirist Chekhov understands that it's human nature for us to try to
sabotage our own happiness. 

Thackaberry portrays a stubborn young woman who won't allow any man to
one-up her. Her character becomes embroiled in arguments with her suitor
(Stevens) over their adjoining property as well as whose hunting dog is
better. 

Stevens employs fabulous physical humor in this piece as his character
starts with an eye tic and ends up so apoplectic with anger he really
looks like he's about to have a stroke. 

In The Bear, a blustery land owner (Frank Jackman) coming to collect a
debt from a widow (Sally Groth) gets her so worked up, she agrees to a
duel. But he must first teach her how to shoot. 

Jackman and Groth expertly create the tone of this absurd piece. 

Groth makes an amazing transformation from a hag matchmaker with a
babushka, sloping shoulders, fat belly and scratchy voice in The Dimwit
to an elegant, beautiful widow in The Bear. 

The language in all of these pieces is ironic and humorous. As a
matchmaker responding to a captain's request for a dimwit wife, Groth
says: ''There are lots of dimwits, all of them smart ones. Every dimwit
has something she knows.'' 

Bits of Malko's translations sound somewhat strange, especially the way
a father addresses a suitor in The Proposal, calling him ''gorgeous,
dear heart'' and ''radiant one,'' like a lover would. But at Actors'
Summit, these odd interjections only add to the giddy humor. 

There's never a dull moment with this classic fare. Russians in Love is
an enriching, enlivening experience that's a great way to spend an
evening with Chekhov.

________________________________

Theater writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or by e-mail
at kclawson at thebeaconjournal.com. 

 

 

Chekhov 'accessible and interesting' in 'Russians in Love'

1/22/2009 - West Side Leader
By David Ritchey


New translations playing at Actors' Summit


HUDSON - Anton Chekhov is considered one of the best writers of all
time. Some rank his plays and playwriting skills just after those of
Shakespeare. Chekhov, a physician, a short-story writer and a dramatist,
is best known for four full-length plays: "The Seagull," "The Three
Sisters," "Uncle Vanya" and "The Cherry Orchard."


Actors' Summit Theater is offering a new translation of four of
Chekhov's short plays. The title of the production is "Russians in
Love." The translations are by George Malko, who grew up in a household
where his parents spoke Russian, and he worked in radio, television,
theater and film. Consequently, his translations have a style that makes
them especially stage-worthy. This is unlike some of the pedantic
translations that have made their way onto American stages and into play
anthologies. Malko's translations are published in a volume titled "A
Tragic Man Despite Himself: The Complete Short Plays of Anton Chekhov."

The production now playing at Actors' Summit includes four of Chekhov's
short plays: "In the Spring," "The Dimwit, or The Retired Captain," "The
Proposal" and "The Bear." A cast of four - Keith Stevens, Frank Jackman,
Sally Groth and Constance Thackaberry - perform them.

In the first short play, "In the Spring," Stevens plays a tomcat in
search of a female cat. The translation is witty and bold. Stevens makes
the cat proud, with many characters of the human male.

In the second play, "The Dimwit," Capt. Sousov (Jackman), a retired
military officer, hires Lukinishna (Groth), a matchmaker, to find him a
wife. Sousov has little to offer a wife except his wealth. He wants a
wife who isn't too smart, too independent or too aggressive. Lukinishna
takes notes in her little black book and comments on the available women
she knows.

Sousov is such a chauvinist that early in the scene he evoked laughter
from the audience (or were those boos?). By the end of the play,
Lukinishna has permitted Sousov to talk enough to reveal the depth of
his chauvinism.

Jackman and Groth play the short scene with intensity and humor.

"The Proposal" is a standard work for directing and acting classes. In
this play, Ivan (Stevens) calls on Stepan (Jackman) to ask for the hand
of Natalya (Thackaberry) in marriage. Stepan is pleased at the match and
rushes Natalya into the sitting room to visit with Ivan. Unfortunately,
the two get in a heated battle about who owns a piece of property that
interfaces their estates.

The battle ends, and Ivan prepares to propose to Natalya. But another
battle of wills destroys Ivan's attempt. Finally, Stepan gets Natalya
and Ivan together and will not permit either of them to talk except
about the proposal.

The play represents Chekhov at his comedic best. He understands the
Russian greed to own property and makes that greed the barrier to an
easy marriage proposal.

The final play of the evening is "The Bear." Grigory (Jackman) calls on
Elena (Groth), who is newly widowed, to ask her to repay a debt her
husband owes him.

Chekhov has tied these characters together with a serious problem.
Grigory has to pay the interest on a loan tomorrow. If he can't pay the
loan, he will lose everything.

But Elena cannot repay the loan. She has taken an oath to remain in
mourning in her home until her death. The problem she has repaying the
loan is that she has no one to go to the bank for her.

As this battle continues, the sexual tension between Grigory and Elena
becomes evident to the characters and the audience. Groth and Jackman
work well together. In this one-act play, they mine the script for every
laugh line.

Director Neil Thackaberry works with these new translations to bring the
humor in the four plays to the surface. The four actors are at the top
of their game as they romp through these scripts.

"Russians in Love" is an excellent production. Malko's new translations
make Chekhov accessible and interesting. Despite the fact the company is
offering four plays, the performances total a little less than two
hours, with an intermission.

The production continues through Feb. 1. For ticket information, call
(330) 342-0800.

David Ritchey has a Ph.D. in communications and is a professor of
communications at The University of Akron. He is a member of the
American Theatre Critics Association.

 

 

 

 

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