Checking Out Chekhov ― A Guide to the Plays for Actors, Directors, and Readers

This book paints a vivid portrait of Anton Chekhov—a Russian writer whose elusive personality and richly detailed plays have left an indelible imprint upon the world’s theatre. Every page reveals the joys and difficulties of his short life, his comic sensibility, deep compassion, and often puzzling use of dramatic style and genre. Carnicke demystifies Chekhov’s plays—forged from his literary innovations, avid theatergoing, love of vaudeville, and loathing of melodrama. She interweaves biographical and cultural information with insightful case studies and close analysis to leave her reader with a full and fresh perspective on an artist, who is as foundational to theatrical traditions as are Shakespeare and Stanislavsky.

(PhD Columbia University) is Professor of Theatre and Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Southern California. Her translations of Chekhov’s plays have been produced by theatres nationwide to public acclaim, and were published as Chekhov: 4 Plays and 3 Jokes, which was a finalist for the 2010 National Translation Award (the American Literary Translators Association). Her groundbreaking book, Stanislavsky in Focus, is now in its second edition. Her other publications include The Theatrical Instinct, a study of the avant-garde director Nikolai Evreinov, and Reframing Screen Performance, coauthored with Cynthia Baron.