Ivanov. Anton Chekhov

      

      Ivanov

      Anton Chekhov, Russian dramatist and short-story writer, was born in 1860, the son of a grocer and the grandson of a serf. After graduating in medicine from Moscow University in 1884, he began to make his name in the theatre with the one-act comedies The Bear, The Proposal and The Wedding. His earliest full-length plays, Ivanov (1887) and The Wood Demon (1889), were not successful, and The Seagull, produced in 1896, was a failure until a triumphant revival by the Moscow Art Theatre in 1898. This was followed by Uncle Vanya (1899), Three Sisters (1901) and The Cherry Orchard (1904), shortly after the production of which Chekhov died. The first English translations of his plays were performed within five years of his death.

      Tom Stoppard has made English versions of The Seagull (1997) and The Cherry Orchard (2009). His other translations and adaptations include The House of Bernarda Alba (Lorca), Undiscovered Country and Dalliance (Schnitzler), On the Razzle (Nestroy), Rough Crossing (Molnár), Largo Desolato (Havel), Heroes (Sibleyras) and Henry IV (Pirandello).

      Plays

      Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead *

      Enter a Free Man * · The Real Inspector Hound *

      After Magritte * · Jumpers * · Travesties *

      Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land *

      Every Good Boy Deserves Favour *

      Night and Day · Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth *

      Undiscovered Country

      (adapted from Arthur Schnitzler’s Das weite Land)

      On the Razzle

      (adapted from Johann Nestroy’s Einen Jux will er sich machen)

      The Real Thing · Rough Crossing

      (adapted from Ferenc Molnár’s Play at the Castle)

      Dalliance (adapted from Arthur Schnitzler’s Liebelei)

      Hapgood · Arcadia

      Indian Ink (an adaptation of In the Native State)

      The Invention of Love * · Voyage: The Coast of Utopia Part I *

      Shipwreck: The Coast of Utopia Part II *

      Salvage: The Coast of Utopia Part III *

      Rock ‘n‘ Roll *

      Television Scripts

      A Separate Peace · Teeth · Another Moon Called Earth

      Neutral Ground · Professional Foul · Squaring the Circle

      Radio Plays

      The Dissolution of Dominic Boot

      “M” Is for Moon Among Other Things

      If You’re Glad, I’ll Be Frank · Albert’s Bridge

      Where Are They Now? · Artist Descending a Staircase

      The Dog It Was That Died · In the Native State

      On Dover Beach

      Screenplays

      Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Shakespeare in Love (with Marc Norman)

      Fiction

      Lord Malquist and Mr. Moon*

      *Available from Grove Press

      ANTON CHEKHOV

      Ivanov

      in a new English version by

      TOM STOPPARD

      based on a literal translation by Helen Rappaport

      Grove Press

      New York

      Adapation copyright © 2008 by Tom Stoppard

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, or the facilitation thereof, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Any members of educational institutions wishing to photocopy part or all of the work for classroom use, or publishers who would like to obtain permission to include the work in an anthology, should send their inquiries to Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 841 Broadway, New York, NY 10003.

      CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that Ivanov is subject to a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and all British Commonwealth countries, and all countries covered by the International Copyright Union, the Pan-American Copyright Convention, and the Universal Copyright Convention. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound taping, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproduction, such as information storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and rights of translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved.

      First-class professional, stock, and amateur applications for permission to perform it, and those other rights stated above, for Ivanov must be made in advance to the author’s agent, United Agents Ltd., 12-26 Lexington Street, London, W1F 0LE, Attn: Rose Cobbe.

      First published in 2008 in Great Britain by Faber and Faber Limited

      ISBN: 978-0-8021-4408-9

      eISBN: 978-0-8021-9102-1

      Printed in the United States of America

      Grove Press

      an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

      841 Broadway

      New York, NY 10003

      Distributed by Publishers Group West

       www.groveatlantic.com

      09 10 11 12 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      Ivanov in this version was first presented by the Donmar Warehouse at the Wyndham’s Theatre, London, on 12 September 2008. The cast, in order of appearance, was as follows:

      IvanovKenneth Branagh

      Borkin Lorcan Cranitch

      Shabelsky Malcolm Sinclair

      Anna Petrovna Gina McKee

      Lvov Tom Hiddleston

      Zinaida Sylvestra Le Touzel

      Kosykh James Tucker

      Avdotya Linda Broughton

      Yegorushka John Atterbury

      Anasim Ian Drysdale

      Natalia Emma Beattie

      Yacob Malcolm Ridley

      Nikander James Howard

      Gavrila Jonathan Battersby

      Lipa Giovanna Falcone

      Babakina Lucy Briers

      Lebedev Kevin R. McNally

      Sasha Andrea Riseborough

      Pyotr John Atterbury

      Director Michael Grandage

      Set and Costume Designer Christopher Oram

      Lighting Designer Paule Constable

      Composer and Sound Designer Adam Cork

      Characters

      Nikolay Ivanov,

      landowner and regional councillor

      Anna Petrovna, his wife

      Count Matvey Shabelsky, his maternal uncle