The Notebook of Trigorin

by Tennessee Williams, Anton Chekhov

On his Uncle Sorin's lakeside estate, Constantine's new play premieres to disdainful reactions from the family and friends who have gathered: Masha; her future husband Medvedenko; Dorn, a lecherous doctor; Shamrayev, manager of the estate; and his wife Polina. Constantine's mother, the famous actress Madame Arkadina (and prima donna), is not one to suppress her true feelings on her son's contribution to the theatre: She abhors it. Humiliated, Constantine sulks over his life, his art, and dotes on the play's star, the woman he loves, Nina, who is infatuated with Madame Arkadina's companion, the established writer Boris Trigorin. Since Trigorin is the object of affection for Nina, as well as Madame Arkadina, he becomes the object of scorn and jealousy for Constantine. In an attempt to explain his brooding, morbid nature, Constantine presents Nina with a dead seagull, which he has just shot a sacrificial symbol of events to come. Before the evening is over the characters' dreams, infidelities, and self-deceptions will be revealed: Nina's reluctance to love Constantine; Trigorin's lust for Nina; Masha's love for Constantine and boredom with her new husband; Dorn's insecurities on his aging appearance and his affair with Polina; and Sorin's constant pleadings with his sister Arkadina to accept and encourage his nephew, her son. Two summers later finds Constantine the successful writer; Masha, a drunk, lamenting her love for Constantine; Madame Arkadina, haggard and struggling to hold onto Trigorin; and Nina, returning to the lake after her failed acting career and rueful involvement with Trigorin, seeking sympathy and understanding from the disturbed Constantine, who still loves her enoughto take his own life.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Ebooks, Literature, Classics, Drama

98 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1997

About the author

Thomas Lanier Williams III, better known by the nickname Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright of the twentieth century who received many of the top theatrical awards for his work. He moved to New Orleans in 1939 and changed his name to "Tennessee," the state of his father's birth.

Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, after years of obscurity, at age 33 he became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944) in New York City. This play closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961). With his later work, he attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century, alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.

Much of Williams' most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

From Wikipedia

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Premessa : non ho mai letto Il Gabbiano di Cechov. Però lo conosco abbastanza a fondo perché mia sorella l’ha portato come spettacolo a teatro e negli scorsi mesi mi ha deliziato con riassunti e commenti sulla storia di ogni tipo. E infatti questa pièce di Tennesse Williams è per lei – ma ne ho approfittato per leggerla anch’io, visto che non posso ancora dargliela.

Detto ciò, quindi, che dire? Nonostante non possa fare grandi paragoni con l’opera originale, è un lavoro che ho apprezzato. I personaggi sono molto vivi, tanto che la vicenda risulta ancora più straziante, e certi passaggi mi hanno messo i brividi – ogni volta che si scorgeva, sotto la patina di maestosa altezzosità, la grande solitudine e paura di Arkadina rimanevo di stucco. È un lavoro che mi ha fatto anche ridere in certe battute e momenti, cosa che non mi aspettavo – e che poi è stata cancellata dalle mazzate finali.

In ogni caso, non me la sento di dare un’opinione di più strutturata di questa. Me la riservo nel caso in cui mi capiti di leggere l’opera teatrale di Cechov.

4/5⭐

[Emma Steiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite adaptation. some changes I thought were really interesting (such as attraction between Trigorin and Constantine) and others I didn't like at all (such as Nina's baby being given away and being named 'America'). In general I think Williams is better in his arena and not in Chekhov's. There were things I just thought were overexplained, and lots tension and humor was lost. I think Chekhov writes a different kind of neurotic than Williams does, and I don't really like seeing the two blended. I don't like Arkadina being written with the flightiness of Blanche. I just think it's not quite "it" though it is interesting to read. It's kind of like Mamet's Three Sisters (I like this better I think) where everyone sounds too Mamet-y. I do think this script made me think about the play in a different way, which I appreciated. I like Nina being both "The Notebook of Trigorin" as well as "The Seagull". Also thought the changes with Dorn were really against what I like about that character and I totally disagree with them.

[Jason Hillenburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Williams' free adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Sea Gull. Composed near the end of his life, Williams doesn't reach the same lofty stature of the original, but that isn't the point. This is an obviously loving re-interpretation of a foundational play in Williams' personal theatrical lexicon and it definitely works dramatically - there's a nice balance of genuinely Chekhovian moments and lines that could have only come from Williams' pen.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this version of Chekhov play. I was fortunatel_4949y to have seen the Cincinnati Playhouse performance in 1996.

[Nauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this play of Chekhov. Despite many regarding it as some comedy play I think it is a very tragic piece.

The adaptation of Williams is good, maybe the best I've read so far but I still think it doesn't really reach the original.

Nina is my favourite character and I have some fav. monologues of her which I really miss in Williams edition. I find that Nina might lack some depth in the adaption but that's only my personal opinion.

All in all I enjoyed reading it - again.

[Corinne Wahlberg]

Going through some Williams for research.

[idiomatic · Rating 3 out of 5]

me: this is a pleasant, fairly straightforward if loose seagull translation
arkadina: trigorin if you leave me i will BLACKMAIL YOU ABOUT THAT BOY BACK IN THE CITY
me: there he is.