Watching dramatisations of Chekhov’s early short stories, Michael Billington finds the writer sketching out his caustic portrait of the Russian character – complete with drunken fishermen and flirtatious wivesGiven the bleakness of the news coming out of Ukraine, it is a pleasant shock to find a short season celebrating the country’s culture taking place at St James’s theatre, London. There are films and a photography exhibition, but the centrepiece is a group of four plays from the repertory of Kiev’s National Academic Theatre of Russian Drama.I caught Life’s Little Nothings, which dramatises five of Chekhov’s early short stories. It was …read more
Source: The Guardian
