The brilliance of Chekov

The Brilliance of Chekhov

  I have been watching a BBC adaptation
of plays by Anton Chekhov which I have found
to be full of wit, satire and brilliance.  A
great perceptiveness of people, their foibles
and characteristics is shown.
This collection of plays is wonderful.
I have enjoyed watching "A Wedding" which I found hilarious.
Anton Chekhov certainly knows how to spin a story with comedy
and also in a way parody the people in certain situations. 
Perhaps he may have found society pretentious at times and this
certainly does sometimes show in the plays.

A more dramatic play is "The Seagull" which I enjoyed for giving
such insights into the life of a writer and artistry from an artist's
perspective.
This play was also a tragedy in many respects.
 The lake, tree and leafy scenery
was spectacular with the greenery combined with wonderful clothing of an
earlier
era.
Chekhov certainly had an uncanny ability to portray characters in a real
sense,
not artificial, with all of their quirks and charms.  There is often spark
and
life in the dialogue.
An interesting aspect of "The Seagull" was the story line, the seagull, and
also
the parallel story of a young girl who is identified as similar to the
seagull
in the story.
The outdoor stage setting at the beginning of the play is quite magnificent,
with concepts of old and new techniques in the art of theatre on show.
This play had many qualities on a different level as regards the imagery and
the story, also that as the writer would write or make comments for his
story,
this seemed to give another dimension to the play as it does appear that what
was written in a book or his notes did seem to take relevance
 as regards the young girl, Nina and the writer.
The other characters in this production are also played manificently.  Masha
who is
in love with the
playwright, Constantin, but who marries a school teacher and Constantin's
mother,
 Madame Aarkadina.

It is almost as though with the plays of Chekhov the viewer is seeing real
life.
Chekhov had a great understanding of people and society, similarly as
Moliere,
with his plays which in the form of satire often parodied society of
seventeenth
century France.  At one time Moliere's plays were banned.
There is a scene in "The Seagull" where the writer, Trigorin, mentions that
he loves
scenery but more than being a word painter he also loves people and his
country as
he is a citizen of Russia, and as such he also loves to write about people.

  I will continue to watch some more of these plays and write another review.