Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 808
EAN: 9780060928759
ISBN: 0060928751
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: May 01, 1998
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Release Date: April 08, 1998
Sales Rank: 44460
Studio: Harper Perennial

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:


These critically hailed translations of The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, The Three Sisters and the other Chekhov plays are the only ones in English by a Russian-language scholar who is also a veteran Chekhovian actor.

Without compromising the spirit of the text, Paul Schmidt accurately translates Chekhov's entire theatrical canon, rescuing the humor "lost" in most academic translations while respecting the historical context and original social climate.

Schmidt's translations ofChekhov have been successfully staged all over the U.S. by such theatrical directors as Lee Strasberg, Elizabeth Swados, Peter Sellars and Robert Wilson. Critics have hailed these translations as making Chekhov fully accessible to American audiences. They are also accurate -- Schmidt has been described as "the gold standard in Russian-English translation" by Michael Holquist of the Russian department at Yale University.




Rating: - Who needs Cliff's Notes when you've got Schmidt's Notes?
It neither surprises nor pleases me to learn that this is the current actor's standard for Chekhov translations in America. I bought this as a text for an acting class, and I kept it because Chekhov was a great writer and no translator can change that. However, the plays collected in this volume aren't treated as literature. If they were, we wouldn't get twelve of them; the one-act comic sketches were, as Schmidt well knows, only written to make money. They certainly weren't intended as filler for ... Read More

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Rating: - Satisfied customer
This book arrived promptly in new condition. It is the best translation of Chekhov's plays I have ever read. Our play-reading group enjoyed reading it together.

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Rating: - best translation you can get for American Actors!!
Renowned Director and Chekhov afficionado David Cromer swears by this translation of Chekhov's greatest (and lesser-known as well) works. I agree, its truly the most accessible translation for the American mouth I've ever read/performed. Perfect for monologue auditions, or productions of your own. ACTORS, STUDENTS AND SCHOLARS ALIKE SHOULD ALL OWN THIS TRANSLATION!

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Rating: - Dislikes new translation
Although the author does a very good job putting the text of the plays into the modern English vernacular, I feel as though the works have had their flavor removed. If you are a purist, like I am, stick to the "old" translation.

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Rating: - A great set of plays and very readable
I haven't read Chekhov's plays in Russian so I can't say anything about the translation except that it is very readable.

Chekhov had his own unique style in that his plays were usually mere verbal interaction with most significant action taking place offstage. Even though most of his plays, especially his four act plays, take place at rich, country houses far removed from any sort of normal life, he seems to pick out timeless themes of humanness in several characters and weave them together ... Read More

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