Center Stage: Chekhov in Russia 100 Years On

Anton Chekhov was not the only classic author to hold Russian theatres captive for much of the 1990s. At the beginning of 1999, a careful, though inexact, count of Moscow shows based on works by Chekhov, Alexander Ostrovsky, Nikolay Gogol, and Fedor Dostoevsky revealed some interesting numbers. The leader, Ostrovsky, who wrote or co-wrote over fifty plays, had thirty-five productions of his plays running at various houses thJoughout the capital. Right behind him, with thirty productions of plays or dramatized stories, was Chekhov. (If we include the ten one-act plays and count separately the early works that later evolved into others, Chekhov can generously be considered the author of eighteen dramatic works.) Gogol's plays and prose works formed the basis of fifteen productions, and Dostoevsky's novels and stories had been adapted for twelve stage productions.