Celebrate Chekhov

Today Anton Chekhov wouldrsquove been 161 years old But his presence in the literary world shows no sign of fading away for in many ways he revolutionised it particularly the genre of short fiction The playwright the son of a grocer in southern Russia has left behind a vast body of work that includes four major plays and we ask four theatre directors to pick their favourite pieceNikhil Katara picksThe SeagullI was introduced to Chekhov through Three Sisters Initially I didnrsquot understand the writing style because therersquos a point where the plot doesnrsquot move Later I found The Seagull to be interesting because he introduced the idea of writing and its principles through the play mdash like Chekhovrsquos gun a device where an element from the first act of the play fires till the very end I connected with the character Trigorin who delivers a beautiful monologue on what it means to be a writerJeff Goldberg picksThe SeagullAs a method actor so many things that I do start with this play Chekhov who was a medical doctor was very interested in psychology and began to internalise the ideas of human behaviour The characters in The Seagull are not just motivated by external conflicts but also what we donrsquot see on stage mdash for instance the protagonist Treplevrsquos relationship with his mother is key to this play and Chekhov borrows from the works of Freud and Jung The play is a bit of a manifesto about theatre mdash its notions construct and what its intimacy could representTushar Dalvi picksThe ProposalThis piece is a comedy of errors Itrsquos about a young man who comes to propose marriage to his neighbourrsquos daughter but instead everyone gets involved in trivial arguments and forgets the larger picture It is relevant in current times because the public keeps fighting over smaller things and the larger issue remains on the sidelines We Rangaai Theatre have done a Hindustani rendition of the play and will be staging it next month in Pune as well The Proposal actually aligns with the Indian context as we have some similarities with Russian tradition and cultureTrishla Patel picksThree SistersI was new to theatre when I picked up Chekhov I chose to start and was fascinated with Three Sisters because in my family we are three sisters and a brother mdash which are the characters the play revolves around too Itrsquos easy to be part of their world Chekhov doesnrsquot alienate you if you enjoy reading I went with people telling me that Chekhov is amazing and then realised why he was so he puts humour into the most mundane things which I enjoyed I read a lot of science fiction because I like endings which are left open to the reader This you can also see in Chekhovrsquos writing Not all authors keep it like that Therersquos usually an ending