The Anton Chekhov Collection

Includes: 1) Platonov ('71) Play adapted from fragments of Chekhov's first full-length play, sometimes known as the "Play without a Name" or Fatherlessness." Platonov is a village schoolteacher whose high ideals and unflagging criticism of provincial life render him irresistable to the women he meets. With Rex Harrison, Sian Phillips and Clive Revill. 2) The Wood Demon Play adapted for TV with Ian Holm and Francesca Annis. It is Leo ZHELTUKHIN's birthday, and friends and neighbors are joining him for lunch. 3) The Proposal ('59) One-act play about the tendency of wealthy families to seek other wealthy families to increase their estates by encouraging marriages that made good economic sense. 4) The Wedding (61) Story adapted for TV. A bridegroom's plans to have a general attend his wedding ceremony backfire when the general turns out to be a "lowly" naval captain. 5) The Seagull ('78) Play adapted for TV in which a struggling writer Konstantin becomes enamored by a visiting young actress Nina. With Anthony Bate, Stephen Rea and Michael Gambon. 6) An Artist's Story ('74) A film adaptation of the Chekhov short story in which an artist bored with country life challenges a charity worker's ideals. With Patrick STEWART. 7) Uncle Vanya ('70) Play adapted for TV with Anthony Hopkins, Freddie Jones and Ann Bell. When your life has been spent supporting a distinguished relative, what do you do when he turns out to be not so distinguished after all? 8) Uncle Vanya ('91) Studio production of Chekov's wistful masterpiece with David WARNER as the retired prof whose return sets in motion a typically Chekovian comic tragedy of lost hopes, stifled passion and belighted ideas. With Ian Bannen, Ian Holm, Rachel Kempson and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. 9) The Three Sisters ('70) Play adapted for TV with Janet Suzman, Eileen Atkins and Michele Dotrice as the Prozorov sisters who dream of returning to Moscow after eleven years of living in a provinvcial Russian town. 10) The Cherry Orchard ('62) Madame Ranyevskaya returns to Russia after some years in Paris & finds that the family estate has gone to seed.Can the precious cherry orchard be saved from the axe? With John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft and Judi Dench. 11) The Cherry Orchard ('81) Sensing that revolution was about to put an end to privileged and protected ways of life, Chekhov wrote with sympathy for the complacent gentry, but also with excitement for the future. With Judi Dench, Bill Paterson and Timothy Spall.

MARVELLOUS!

THIS IS A MARVELLOUS COLLECTION OF GREAT THEATRE. I WISH I HAD THE CHANCE TO STIMULATE THE BBC TO PRODUCE MORE OF THESE COLLECTIONS. I AM SURE THEY HAVE A LOT OF EXCELLENT STRAIGHT PLAYS TO BE OFFERED, SO I HOPE ....AND LET ME KEEP MY FINGERS CROSSED.
ERNESTO OPPICELLI - VIA CERTOSA 1A 3 - 16159 GENOVA CERTOSA/ITALY
zeller@alice.it October 13, 2008

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