<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]--><o:SmartTagType
namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="State"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="City"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceType"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceName"/>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Helvetica;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
h3
{mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:bold;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:navy;
text-decoration:underline;}
p
{margin-top:6.0pt;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Helvetica;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:Arial;
color:windowtext;}
span.story-title1
{font-family:Helvetica;
font-weight:bold;}
span.story-deck1
{font-family:Helvetica;
font-weight:bold;}
span.post-credit1
{font-family:Arial;}
span.post-date1
{font-family:Helvetica;
color:#999999;}
p.topstorytitle, li.topstorytitle, div.topstorytitle
{mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=navy>
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=story-title1><b><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:14.5pt'>Chekhov rarities in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Hudson</st1:City></st1:place> </span></font></b></span><font size=1
face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Helvetica'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:12.6pt'><span class=story-deck1><b><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Two sketches make
English-speaking debut. Expert acting enlivens four humorous classics </span></font></b></span><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin-top:0in;line-height:12.6pt'><span class=post-credit1><font
size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>By Kerry Clawson </span></font></span><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'><br>
<span class=post-credit1><font face=Arial>Beacon Journal staff writer </font></span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='line-height:12.6pt'><span class=post-date1><font size=3
color="#999999" face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Published on
Tuesday, Jan 27, 2009 </span></font></span><font face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Rage
can be a powerful aphrodisiac. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Master
humorist Anton Chekhov certainly understood that in his classic comedy <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>The Bear (1888)</span></i>, a tale of a quirky mating
dance that's packaged with three other Chekhov comedies in <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>Russians in Love</span></i> at Actors' <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:City>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Two
of Chekhov's comedic sketches receive their world English-language premiere at
the Hudson theater — <i><span style='font-style:italic'>In the Spring
(1887),</span></i> with its surprising feline plot, and the ultimately naughty <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>The Dimwit (1883)</span></i>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The
ultra-short sketches (<i><span style='font-style:italic'>In the Spring</span></i>
and <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The Dimwit</span></i>) were discovered
and translated by Russian-born George Malko of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:State>, a playwright, screenwriter and
novelist. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>After
being born into poverty, Chekhov (1860-1904) became both a physician and a
celebrated writer/dramatist in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moscow</st1:place></st1:City>.
His classic plays are <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Uncle Vanya, The
Seagull, Two Sisters</span></i> and <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The
Cherry Orchard</span></i>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>I've
got to give actor Keith Stevens big credit for pulling off an outrageous cat
suit in the opening <i><span style='font-style:italic'>In the Spring</span></i>.
It was an odd way to start this evening of Chekhov, and may have been better
inserted between the play's two longer comedies. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Instead,
it appears director Neil Thackaberry chose to build momentum toward the stars
of the show: the farces <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The Proposal</span></i>
(1888) and <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The Bear (</span></i>also
translated as <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The Boor</span></i> or <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>The Brute). </span></i>Their translations by Malko
are receiving their second professional production. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Stevens
and Constance Thackaberry, real-life husband and wife, play off each other
beautifully in <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The Proposal</span></i>, the
most ridiculously funny marriage proposal I've seen on stage. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Satirist
Chekhov understands that it's human nature for us to try to sabotage our own
happiness. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>In <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>The Bear</span></i>, 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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Jackman
and Groth expertly create the tone of this absurd piece. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Groth
makes an amazing transformation from a hag matchmaker with a babushka, sloping
shoulders, fat belly and scratchy voice in <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The
Dimwit</span></i> to an elegant, beautiful widow in <i><span style='font-style:
italic'>The Bear</span></i>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>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.'' <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Bits
of Malko's translations sound somewhat strange, especially the way a father
addresses a suitor in <i><span style='font-style:italic'>The Proposal, </span></i>calling
him ''gorgeous, dear heart'' and ''radiant one,'' like a lover would. But at
Actors' <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:City>,
these odd interjections only add to the giddy humor. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>There's
never a dull moment with this classic fare. <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Russians
in Love </span></i>is an enriching, enlivening experience<i><span
style='font-style:italic'> </span></i>that's<i><span style='font-style:italic'>
</span></i>a great way to spend an evening with Chekhov.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span
class=storytext1><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>
<hr size=1 width="100%" noshade color="#cccccc" align=center>
</span></font></span></div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=storytext1><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Theater writer Kerry Clawson may be reached
at 330-996-3527 or by e-mail at <a href="mailto:kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com">kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com</a></span></font></span><span
class=storytext1><font size=1><span style='font-size:7.0pt'>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:9.0pt'><span class=storytext1><font
size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:7.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:9.0pt'><span class=storytext1><font
size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:7.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=topstorytitle><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:26.0pt'>Chekhov ‘accessible and interesting’ in
‘Russians in Love’<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><strong><b><font size=3 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Helvetica'>1/22/2009 - </span></font></b></strong><st1:place w:st="on"><em><b><i><font
face=Helvetica><span style='font-family:Helvetica;font-weight:bold'>West Side</span></font></i></b></em></st1:place><em><b><i><font
face=Helvetica><span style='font-family:Helvetica;font-weight:bold'> Leader</span></font></i></b></em><br>
<em><i><font face=Helvetica><span style='font-family:Helvetica'>By David
Ritchey</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<h3><em><b><i><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>New
translations playing at Actors’ Summit<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></b></em></h3>
<h3><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b><font size=4
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>HUDSON</span></font></b></st1:place></st1:City><font
size=4><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> — 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.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></h3>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>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.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The production
now playing at Actors’ <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:City>
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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Jackman and Groth
play the short scene with intensity and humor.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>“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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>“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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The production
continues through Feb. 1. For ticket information, call (330) 342-0800.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><em><i><font size=4 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:
Helvetica'>David Ritchey has a Ph.D. in communications and is a professor of
communications at The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Akron</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>. He is a member
of the American Theatre Critics Association.</span></font></i></em><font
size=4><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:9.0pt'><span class=storytext1><font
size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:7.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p style='line-height:9.0pt'><font size=1 face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:7.0pt'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>