Young Chekhov: Three-play day
‘There’s rather brilliant; brilliant; and landmark-brilliant. I have no hesitation whatsoever in assigning to the last category David Hare’s inexhaustibly rich and game-changing adaptations of three of Chekhov’s early plays. The whole experience is a triumph.’
Independent
The Young Chekhov trilogy opened to overwhelming acclaim at Chichester Festival Theatre last year. The company now come to the National, offering a unique chance to explore the birth of a revolutionary dramatic voice.
Performed by one ensemble of actors, each play can be seen as a single performance (see Platonov, Ivanov and The Seagull) or enjoyed together, either over different days or as a thrilling all-day theatrical experience.
Adapted by David Hare whose stage plays include Skylight, Pravada and screenplays include The Hours and The Reader, directed by Jonathan Kent (Gypsy, Private Lives).
Running times for the day
11.45am Platonov Curtain Up (Running: 2 hrs 45 including one interval)
2.30pm Intermission 1
4pm Ivanov Curtain Up (Running: 2 hrs 30 including one interval)
6.30pm Intermission 2
8pm The Seagull Curtain Up (Running: 2 hrs 30 including one interval)
Platonov 11.45am
Schoolteacher Mikhail Platonov has a problem – he’s irresistible to women.
Set in the blazing heat of a rural summer, this freewheeling comedy is a cry of youthful defiance against the compromises of middle age.
Ivanov 4pm
Nikolai Ivanov is only 35, a radical and a romantic, but already he’s feeling that he’s thrown his life away.
Determined not to become a small-town Hamlet, he hopes one last desperate romance may save him from a society rotten with anti-Semitism and drink. This electric play is powered both by hilarious satire and passionate self-disgust.
The Seagull 8pm
On a summer’s day in a makeshift theatre by a lake, Konstantin’s cutting-edge new play is performed, changing the lives of everyone involved forever.
Chekhov’s masterly meditation on how the old take revenge on the young is both comic and tragic, and marks the birth of the modern stage
Restaurant packages
Special menus will be available in both House and Terrace restaurants on these dates only. These will be available in-between shows at 2.30pm and 6.30pm respectively and are designed to enhance your experience, allowing you to dine easily and efficiently on the day.
House menu
2 courses including a glass of house wine, soft drink or coffee £27
Terrace menu
3 plates including a glass of house wine, soft drink or coffee £22
Pre-booking is essential. Please add this to your basket when purchasing your tickets for the three show day.
Please note, only the menus specified above will be available on these dates.
Talks and events
Jonathan Kent on Young Chekhov, Thu 15 Sep, 6pm,
In Context: Chekhov the early work, Mon 26 Sep, 2pm
Get the playtext from the National Theatre bookshop.
