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Five Russian Plays: With One From the Ukrainian
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210 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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January 5, 2023
Note: I rated 4/5 overall because there are two really enjoyable outliers in here. Without those two, I would have given the collection a 2 or 3. This book is free on archive dot org.
A Merry Death (Nikolai Evreinov, 1908):
5/5 - This one was fun. It is something that could still play today & draw a crowd. Nothing serious, but I loved it nonetheless. This play & 'The Choice of a Tutor' are the only plays I will remember/recommend from this collection.
The Beautiful Despot (Nikolai Evreinov, 190? - title may be mistranslated):
3.5/5 - People living as if it’s the century before, to keep their sanity during the rising insanity of early 20th-century Russian modernity.
The Choice of a Tutor (Denis Fonvizin, 1792):
4.5/5 - Very good satire about elitism in 18th century Russia. A "noble", but idiotic family hires a lowly tutor for their son, but they aren’t educated themselves (though they think highly of themselves for their birthrights), so they don't even know what he should be taught when the tutor asks. I wish more of Fonvizin's works were translated into English, he has a great sense of humor.
The Wedding (Anton Chekhov, 1889):
2/5 - Not bad, it at least flowed pretty well… It was just kinda meaningless and uninteresting. A young man brings a near-deaf sailor to a pre-wedding event because the hosts offered 25 rubles for an interesting guest - in the end the sailor just annoyed everyone with his sea stories and we come to learn that the young man who brought the sailor pocketed the 25 rubles for himself.
The Jubilee (Anton Chekhov, late 1800s):
3.5/5 - Good. Kinda funny. Describes pretty well the frustration/rage felt from being constantly distracted by others when you’re trying to work on something.
The Babylonian Captivity (Lesia Ukrainka, late 1800s):
1.5/5 - Probably went over my head. Didn't care for it at all.
A Merry Death (Nikolai Evreinov, 1908):
5/5 - This one was fun. It is something that could still play today & draw a crowd. Nothing serious, but I loved it nonetheless. This play & 'The Choice of a Tutor' are the only plays I will remember/recommend from this collection.
The Beautiful Despot (Nikolai Evreinov, 190? - title may be mistranslated):
3.5/5 - People living as if it’s the century before, to keep their sanity during the rising insanity of early 20th-century Russian modernity.
The Choice of a Tutor (Denis Fonvizin, 1792):
4.5/5 - Very good satire about elitism in 18th century Russia. A "noble", but idiotic family hires a lowly tutor for their son, but they aren’t educated themselves (though they think highly of themselves for their birthrights), so they don't even know what he should be taught when the tutor asks. I wish more of Fonvizin's works were translated into English, he has a great sense of humor.
The Wedding (Anton Chekhov, 1889):
2/5 - Not bad, it at least flowed pretty well… It was just kinda meaningless and uninteresting. A young man brings a near-deaf sailor to a pre-wedding event because the hosts offered 25 rubles for an interesting guest - in the end the sailor just annoyed everyone with his sea stories and we come to learn that the young man who brought the sailor pocketed the 25 rubles for himself.
The Jubilee (Anton Chekhov, late 1800s):
3.5/5 - Good. Kinda funny. Describes pretty well the frustration/rage felt from being constantly distracted by others when you’re trying to work on something.
The Babylonian Captivity (Lesia Ukrainka, late 1800s):
1.5/5 - Probably went over my head. Didn't care for it at all.
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