On May 27th, Maly Theatre’s production «Re-Reading Chekhov» will be shown at the State Literary and Memorial Museum-Reserve of A.P. Chekhov, in Melikhovo. The performance will be presented within the framework of the XVIII International Theatre Festival «Melikhovskaya Vesna». The show starts at 20:00.
On May 27th, Maly Theatre’s production «Re-Reading Chekhov» will be shown at the State Literary and Memorial Museum-Reserve of A.P. Chekhov, in Melikhovo. The performance will be presented within the framework of the XVIII International Theatre Festival «Melikhovskaya Vesna». The show starts at 20:00.
Journalist Pavel Podkladov on the upcoming event: «... there will be a real feast on the night of May 27! At 20-00 the Maly Theatre’s company will appear on the veranda of the Main House of A.P. Chekhov. They will showcase a performance entitled «Re-Reading Chekhov», a hilarious performance, based on Chekhov’s early short comic stories, which he wrote under the pseudonym Antosha Chekonte. The highlight of the performance is, in the first place, the text of the young Chekhov that can only be recited eloquently and played with such a taste by the actors of the Maly Theatre. Onstage is a company of actors that resembles a small troupe of the touring theatre. Nine actors and nine suitcases with stickers rather known to those who are familiar with the vicissitudes of Chekhov’s life: Yalta, Taganrog, Sakhalin, Melikhovo, Lopasnya ... The performance is only accompanied by the sound of the wheels of the passing trains and the ringing of the station bell resembling the sound of his Melikhov "fellowman" calling to remember, wait, love and believe. I have to remind my readers that some characters in this play are historical figures whose fate was linked with the Museum-Reserve Melikhovo. Actually the tradition of Melikhovo theatrical meetings started in 1982. Lipetsk theatre is considered to be the founding father of the festival - the actors of this theatre were the first time in the history of the Museum to step on the veranda of the Melikhovo manor to perform «The Seagull».
Elena Olenina, the performance director of current play, as a young girl, was among the audience in 1982. Her mother, Olga Pakhomova (Ovchinnikova), who was herself a young actress back then, played Nina Zarechnaya and took her daughter with her. Yuriy Ilyin, the Honored Artist of Russia and laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation played Treplev. By the way, Yuriy can be called an absolutely Chekhovian man and actor. After Treplev, he played Voinitsky in «Uncle Vanya», Petya Trofimov and Gayev in «The Cherry Orchard», Ivanov in «Ivanov», Aplombov in «The Wedding»,etc. In the current performance he will appear on the stage as an author. To be honest with you, I'm terribly jealous of Yuri Borisovich, who was lucky enough to live so many lives of Chekhov's characters! And I do hope that he will enrich his acting career with more "Chekhovian" roles.
By the way, talking about getting tickets for the above-mentioned performances… As I already noted, you cannot get them at the box office. But since the performance is taking place outdoors, everyone will get a chance to see it from the branches of the trees growing next to the Main House.»