cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board  

Go Back   cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board > non-Sports > Literae Humaniores

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 11-09-2007, 04:05 PM   #1
Mrs. Funk
Member
 
Mrs. Funk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 367
Mrs. Funk is on a distinguished road
Default Chekhov's "The Seagull"

Funk got free tickets for us to go see the play "The Seagull" by Chekhov but I know almost nothing about it. I'm pretty sure I read one of this plays in my undergraduate work called "The Dumbwaiter," an absurdist play with random toilet flushing sounds in the background and each character's dialogue seemingly unrelated to the other characters.

Anyway, does anybody know anything about it? Have I just signed myself up for an evening of absurdity?
Mrs. Funk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2007, 04:13 PM   #2
Archaea
Assistant to the Regional Manager
 
Archaea's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: The Orgasmatron
Posts: 24,338
Archaea is an unknown quantity at this point
Default

Here's some stuff, it's about the shooting of a Seagull was all I remembered, but here goes:

Quote:
Chekhov wrote four major plays, Ivanov,The Seagull,Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. He wrote The Seagull in 1895. It was first performed in 1896 in Petersburg. The first performance was viewed as a failure since it generated the disappointment of the audience who had come to see the play as it was falsely advertised, as a benefit performance for a well-known actress who was only in a sketch after the play. After that performance, The Seagull was well-received and immediately toured the Russian provinces. On May 25th, 1901, Chekhov married an actress, Olga Knipper who starred in his plays at the Moscow Art Theatre. He became known for his collaborations and differences with Konstantin Stanislavski, the famous Russian director and acting teacher. His plays marked a new movement in the theatre with their use of subtext, intimacy, colloquialisms and realism. His comedy-tragedies were unlike any plays that audiences had seen before because they made drama out of everyday circumstances, such as love and longing, instead of portraying the grand gestures of heroes and heroines of earlier plays.
Three years later, Chekhov's health faded rapidly, but he managed to complete his last play, The Cherry Orchard, before he died. It was performed for the first time on his birthday in 1904. On July two that year, Chekhov died in a German spa that was unequipped to care for his illness. He and Olga had traveled there because it was recommended for his health. According to his wife, Chekhov, (a doctor himself), diagnosed his own condition and told the doctor he was dying. The doctor sent for champagne, and then Chekov said, "I haven't drunk champagne in a long time," drank some sips of champagne, turned over on his side and died. His body was returned back to Russia in a train car labeled, "Fresh Oysters," a comic detail Chekhov probably would've enjoyed in the somber context of his death.
__________________
Ἓν οἶδα ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα
Archaea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2007, 04:17 PM   #3
SeattleUte
 
SeattleUte's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 10,665
SeattleUte has a little shameless behaviour in the past
Default

I love the story The Lady with the Pet Dog. Just re-read it the other day.
__________________
Interrupt all you like. We're involved in a complicated story here, and not everything is quite what it seems to be.

—Paul Auster
SeattleUte is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2007, 04:24 PM   #4
Mrs. Funk
Member
 
Mrs. Funk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 367
Mrs. Funk is on a distinguished road
Default

Well, at least Chekhov got to die drinking, right?
Mrs. Funk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2007, 04:40 PM   #5
creekster
Senior Member
 
creekster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: the far corner of my mind
Posts: 8,711
creekster is an unknown quantity at this point
Default

I have not seen the Seagull. I have seen the Chery Orchard a couple of times and love it. I recall seeing it for the first time when I was about 12 at what was then (and may still be) the Pioneer Memorial Theater at the U of U. I was very moved by the production. Go with an open mind and I am confident that you will like it.
__________________
Sorry for th e tpyos.
creekster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2007, 09:33 PM   #6
Mrs. Funk
Member
 
Mrs. Funk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 367
Mrs. Funk is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by creekster View Post
I have not seen the Seagull. I have seen the Chery Orchard a couple of times and love it. I recall seeing it for the first time when I was about 12 at what was then (and may still be) the Pioneer Memorial Theater at the U of U. I was very moved by the production. Go with an open mind and I am confident that you will like it.
Thanks for the heads up. I'm excited to go. Chekhov's a little out there, but undeniably fascinating stuff. I'll let you know how it goes.
Mrs. Funk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2007, 04:46 AM   #7
Mrs. Funk
Member
 
Mrs. Funk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 367
Mrs. Funk is on a distinguished road
Default The play was brilliant

I loved it. Of course, nobody was happy and somebody had to die, but it's theatre! There were obvious Hamlet comparisons throughout. The guy who commits suicide is broody and melancholic and wants to produce fabulous, "new forms" writing... There's even a play within the play, like in Hamlet. Oh, and a ridiculous mother having an affair of sorts. Yet the whole thing was settled in the turn-of-the-century setting, with a wannabe Bohemian. Fascinating, fascinating play.
Mrs. Funk is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 10:51 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.