When it opened in St Petersburg in 1896, The Seagull survived only five performances after a disastrous first night. Two years later it was revived by Nemirovich-Danchenko at the newly-founded Moscow Art Theatre, with Stanislavsky as Trigorin, and was an immediate success, changing for ever the nature and possibilities of drama. Chekhov's description of the play was characteristically self-mocking: 'A comedy - three f., six m., four acts, rural scenery (a view over a lake); much talk of literature, little action, five bushels of love'.
A Methuen Student Edition of Chekhov's classic play in Michael Frayn's acclaimed translation.When it opened in St Petersburg in 1896, The Seagull survived only five performances after a disastrous first night. Two years later it was revived by Nemirovich-Danchenko at the newly-founded Moscow Art Theatre with Stanslasky as Trigorin and was an immediate success. Checkhov's description of the play was characteristically self-mocking: "A comedy - 3F, 6M, four acts, rural scenery (a view over a lake); much talk of literature, little action, five bushels of love".Michael Frayn's translation was commissioned by the Oxford Playhouse Company.
Student edition of Chekhov’s classic, in the highly renowned translation by best-selling playwright Michael Frayn, author of Copenhagen.All the Methuen Student Editions contain commentaries, contexts, chronologies and notes on the translations by experts in theatre studies.