The Cherry Orchard - by Anton Chekhov (Paperback)

About the Book

Chekov's great tragicomic eulogy for a passing way of life is superbly adapted to make a powerful and beautifully playable drama. Plays for Performance Series.

Book Synopsis

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet, in this unique adaptation of one of the great masterpieces of the theater, allows us to see Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" in totally new and surprising ways. As Mamet explains in his introduction, he views the play "as a series of scenes about sexuality and, particularly, frustrated sexuality" rather than about a dying Russia. The result, said 'The Sentinel, ' "blows a gust of fresh air into the old play" while the Chicago Sun-Times called it "audacious [and] consistently arresting." "Mamet the adaptor has turned Chekhov's Cherry Orchard into a Mamet play. Mamet's ear is famously impeccable, the dialogue is always authentic and convincing . . . . This is a tribute to its strong point of view and clear point of departure. If nothing else, it will help to undermine our silly critical notions of 'definitive' Chekhov. Mamet has made me rethink the play." - Robert Brustein, 'The New Republic'

About the Author

Contributor Bio: Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Chekhov was a playwright and master of the short story. He studied medicine at Moscow, and began to write while a student. His first book of stories in 1886 was successful, and gradually adopted writing as a profession.

Contributor Bio: David Mamet
Mamet is the Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author and Director of numerous Plays and Films.