Which Chekhov is better/more interesting?

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 11:52am

I'm planning to do a presentation on a Chekhov play, but I can't decide which one to talk about. Which play is juicier or more interesting, The Seagull or The Cherry Orchard?

[Fair 2 Middlin]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 11:54am

SEAGULL!!!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 12:16pm

I'd pick SEAGULL

[BillyLawlor]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 12:24pm

This past summer, I had to read "The Cherry Orchard". I opened the book, read the first two scenes, and I finished the rest reading summaries--I really didn't like it at all.

But this year, I go assigned a monologues from "The Seagull", read it, and fell in love with it. It's one of my favorite plays now. I would recommend the Tom Stoppard adaptation, which was the one I read.

I would give anything to see The Seagull performance with Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Natalie Portman from three years ago. Amazing cast!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 12:26pm

Streep and Kline were amazing together -- great chemistry. Portman gave one of the worst performances I've seen in years -- totally and completely out of her depth.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 12:28pm

My vote is for the Seagull as well...

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 12:34pm

"The Seagull". Konstantin is such a fabulous character. I did selections of his monologues for drama interp for competitive speech when I was in college.

[Theatreboy33]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 12:36pm

Wow, I am actually reading these two plays as we speak attempting to pick out a good scene for my scene study class. With them both fresh in my mind, Id definately go with the Seagull. But it can also depend on which translation you choose.

[magruder]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 12:47pm

Another vote for The Seagull.

Interesting to read your thoughts, Margo, about Natalie Portman in the Delacorte production, as her performance in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace may be one of the worst performances ever captured on film.

[bbroadwaybb]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 12:54pm

The Seagull is amazing, yes, perhaps my most favorite play - but VERY VERY well known, why not choose something less known to present? Checkov wrote one acts and short stories too. UNCLE VANYA - is as fascinating as THE SEAGULL. THREE SISTERS, same.

[Fair 2 Middlin]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:01pm

Three sisters didn't move me, more like 3 sisters whining for 3 hours.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:05pm

Thank you all for your advice! "The Seagull" it is.

W're only reading "The Seagull" and "The Cherry Orchard" in class, so I have to do one of those two. I might compare The Seagull to another of Chekhov's plays.

[magruder]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:27pm

How about The Seagull and how it relates to the musical Birds of Paradise, which is about a group of actors performing a musical adaptation of The Seagull, while the story of The Seagull mirrors their own lives. (The book and lyrics were an earlier effort by Wicked's Winnie Holzman). It had a wonderful cast: Todd Graff, Crista Moore, Mary Beth Piel, Barbara Walsh, Donna Murphy, John Cunningham, J.K. Simmons, etc., and the score has some lovely things in it. The book is not quite as funny as I had hoped it would be, but it was an interesting piece, at the very least, and the cast recording is very enjoyable.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:48pm

What about THE CHERRY ORCHARD? The story of a wealthy family being driven down by the economy and society to semi-poverty is POWERFUL and DEEPLY thought-provoking!

I think its basic theme (you cannot rely on incidents in past to survive through the future) is MORE timely today (given the current unfortunate World situation) than it was in the 19th Century.

[B.B. Wolf]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:59pm

I'm with you, Mary. I would have picked Cherry Orchard. I played Yasha a few years back and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Granted, nothing really happens in the play, but that's Chekhov for you. :)

[robbiej]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 2:02pm

Both are beautiful, with the SEAGULL far more accessible to a younger reader.

I was very blessed to do a production of THE SEAGULL and it honestly changed my life.

The Delacorte SEAGULL was, in my very lonely opinion, misguided. Not just Portman (whom I saw at the end of the run and thought she wasn't as bad as what I was told. She didn't have the chops for the last scene, but I thought until then, she was actually rather lovely).

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 2:09pm

B.B.,

I think that nothing happens in THE CHERRY ORCHARD because the characters don't get off their butts and MAKE things happen. That was Chekov's whole point. :)

[B.B. Wolf]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 2:19pm

Absolutely. Of course, inactive theatre is still inactive theatre. Especially to modern audiences. Don't get me wrong, I love the play! It just has less action than Copenhagen. :) (Another play I love!)

[#1Elphie]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 2:25pm

I love The Cherry Orchard, I would have gone with that as well. But The Seagull will be great I'm sure! Chekhov is a genius, you can't go wrong with any of his works.

[pab]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 2:32pm

I'll have to go with "The Seagull". I'm a little partial to that play, having played 'Dr. Dorn' in a production back in 1979.