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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 January 2009
In NTQ 13, David Allen began his exploration of the diverse approaches to Chekhóv by modern British directors with an analysis of Mike Alfreds's work on the plays. Here, he looks in detail at the production of one of Chekhov's least-revived but most controversial works. Ivanov, by David Jones. This revival, for the Royal Shakespeare Company, opened at the Aldwych Theatre. London, on 2 September 1976, with John Wood in the title role. David Allen places the production in the context of Chekhov's own comments on the play and its characters, of contemporary Russian society, and of earlier British productions: he then intercuts his own act-by-act description of Jones's production with the comments and recollections of the director and his leading players.
Unless otherwise specified, all quotations from the play are from the translation by Jeremy Brooks and Kitty Hunter-Blair, which was prepared for the 1976 RSC production.
1. Letter to Mikhail Chekhov, December 1887, quoted by Magarshack, David in Chekhov the Dramatist (Eyre Methuen, 1980)Google Scholar.
2. Quoted by Senelick, Laurence in Anton Chekhov (Macmillan, 1985)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
3. Letter to A. S. Suvorin, 7 January 1889. Unless otherwise specified, all quotations from Chekhov's letters are taken from Letters on the Short Story, the Drama and other Literary Topics by Anton Chekhov, selected and edited by Friedland, Louis S. (Dover Publications, 1966)Google Scholar, and Letters of Anton Chekhov, selected and edited by Yarmolinsky, Avrahm (Cape, 1974)Google Scholar.
4. From an entry in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica.
5. Quoted by David Magarshack, op. cit.
6. See Toumanova, Nina Andronikova, Anton Chekhov: the Voice of Twilight Russia (Columbia University Press, 1937)Google Scholar.
7. See Shestov, Leon, Anton Tchekhov and Other Essays (Maunsel, 1916)Google Scholar.
8. Ibid.
9. Lvov ‘champions the wronged, seeks to restore rights that have been trodden underfoot, sets himself dead against injustice’ (Shestov, op. cit.).
10. Chekhov refers to the manager of the Alexandrinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg where the play was revived in 1889.
11. An actress at the same theatre.
12. Letter to Suvorin, 30 December 1888.
13. Letter to Suvorin, 7 January 1889.
14. See letter to Suvorin, 30 December 1888.
15. Miller, Arthur, Introduction to Collected Plays (Cresset Press, 1958)Google Scholar.
16. Quoted by Shakh-Azizova, Tatiana in her essay, ‘A Russian Hamlet’, in Soviet Literature, No. 382 (1980)Google Scholar.
17. Gottlieb, Vera, ‘Ivanov: Coping with Reality’, RSC Newsletter, 1976Google Scholar.
18. Ibid. The italics are mine.
19. Quoted by Grein, J. T. in ‘The World of Theatre’, The Illustrated London News, 16 01 1926Google Scholar.
20. EAB, Daily News, 8 December 1925.
21. MacCarthy, Desmond, New Statesman, 19 12 1925Google Scholar.
22. The Times, 8 December 1925.
23. Desmond MacCarthy, op. cit.
24. At the Arts Theatre, London, 20 April 1950.
25. Hobson, Harold, Verdict at Midnight (Longmans, 1952)Google Scholar. The italics are mine.
26. Brown, Ivor, The Observer, 23 04 1950Google Scholar.
27. Williamson, Audrey, Theatre of Two Decades (London, 1951)Google Scholar.
28. Interview in Radio Times, 7 November 1986. Gielgud's production was presented at the Phoenix Theatre, London, 30 September 1965.
29. Young, B. A., Financial Times, 1 10 1965Google Scholar.
30. Ibid.
31. In this section on Gielgud's performance, quotations from the play are taken from Gielgud's own version, which he based on a translation by Ariadne Nicolaeff.
32. Bryden, Ronald, New Statesman, 8 10 1965Google Scholar.
33. Darlington, W. A., Daily Telegraph, 1 10 1965Google Scholar.
34. Gilliatt, Penelope, The Observer, 3 10 1965Google Scholar.
35. Coveney, Michael, in The Ages of Gielgud, edited by Harwood, Ronald (Hodder and Stoughton, 1984)Google Scholar.
36. Hayman, Ronald, Gielgud (Heinemann, 1971)Google Scholar.
37. Hope-Wallace, Philip, The Guardian, 1 10 1965Google Scholar.
38. Taylor, John Russell, Plays and Players, 12 1965Google Scholar. The point was taken to heart by Alec McCowen when, two years later, he played the role on radio. McCowen's Ivanov was given to sudden outbursts of temper and rage.
39. Penelope Gilliatt, op. cit.
40. Billington, Michael, The Guardian, 8 09 1976Google Scholar.
41. Coveney, Michael, Financial Times, 8 09 1976Google Scholar.
42. Nightingale, Benedict, New Statesman, 16 09 1976Google Scholar. David Jones observes: ‘The scene is about boredom for about five pages of script. To present that effectively, without becoming boring and funereally slow, calls for all sorts of “tricks”.’
43. Michael Billington, op. cit.
44. Chaillet, Ned, The Times, 8 09 1976Google Scholar.
45. Benedict Nightingale, op. cit.
46. Michael Billington, op. cit.
47. Tinker, Jack, Daily Mail, 8 09 1976Google Scholar.
48. Lambert, J. W., The Sunday Times, 12 09 1976Google Scholar.
49. Benedict Nightingale, op. cit.
50. Chekhov wrote: ‘Ivanov is a very straight person. He tells the doctor and the audience quite frankly that he can't make himself out, keeps saying he doesn't understand. That he really doesn't understand himself is evident in the long soliloquy in Act Three where he talks to the audience as man-to-man and actually bursts into tears while confessing.’ (Letter to Suvorin, 30 December 1888.)
51. Michael Coveney, op. cit.
52. David Jones comments: ‘At times in the play, you encounter a slab of dialogue which is not exactly wooden, but in which the ideas have not been fully digested, and some of the writing is redundant. Lvov's monologue is an example of this. We did try rehearsing his speech as a soliloquy, sharing it with the audience. However, we did not feel it was working. Then we hit on the idea of having someone there on stage throughout the speech. Lvov thinks he's talking to him – but he is not.’