Dear humans and russian literature enthuciasts,
I originally wrote this five days ago, but decided to let my thoughts simmer and calm down before posting. Here is the calmer version of my post:
My mind hath been blown!!!!! I am realizing that Chekhov has been recycling the same theatrical motifs over and over again in some attempt to make good literature. Last Tuesday in class, we decided to read excerpts from some of Chekhov’s Vaudevilles as well as from his Core Four (Seagull, Vanya, Sisters, and Orchard) and The Wood Demon (his failure of a show that ended up being reworked into Vanya). Now I have critically assessed all of the Core Four except for The Cherry Orchard and although I have noticed elements that have been similar, my mind has never been so stretched until I added Wood Demon to the mix. It was with this play that I was able to realize that all Chekhov does is remake the same play. The following are all of the things that I (a lowly college student) noticed as repetition in his plays after thinking for about 10 minutes:
Gun for attempted/successful suicide murder (Ivanhov, Seagull, Vanya, Sisters, Wood Demon)
Fire (Wood Demon, Sisters)
Valerian Drops (Vanya, Seagull, Sisters, Wood Demon)
Doctor Character (all of them)
Large estate but stuck in a cramped place (Seagull, Vanya, Sisters)
Over powering theme of being watched by servants/spectators (Seagull, Vanya, Sisters, Wood Demon)
Offstage death that people react to onstage (Seagull, Wood Demon, Sisters)
Offstage death that people react to, but ultimately in a funny manner (Wood Demon, Seagull)
Now I’m not comparative dramatic literature major, but that was a bit too easy. The answer is clear. All of Chekhov’s stories are just continuations of each other. The mighty Anton Chekhov has only written one measly story over a 15 year period and the only thing that stopped him from writing The Cherry Orchard Part 2 (the tale of an old russian man who has an unrequited love that drives him to be sad consider suicide and then be talked out of it by his Doctor friend thus reverting everything back to normal) was his darn TB. So yeah Tony, I’m calling you out. If you wish to duke it out, I will be in either the BC rehearsal room or Scheafer Theater for most days until the end of November. I have attached a photo of me in full armor for intimidation purposes.
Sincerely,
Kommodore Kebede
I once again gave myself about a week to digest my thoughts and calm down:
Oh, Bravo Chekhov. You spent your whole life trying to write a play and just couldn’t do it, so you decided to influence writers everywhere so they could finish your dirty work. Well you have the Tony Nominating Committee tricked, but I have you figured out.
Now this all sounds pretty crazy, but don’t worry there is context. In our last Chekhov Analysis class, we discussed and performed pieces from plays that had major influences from the works of Chekhov. These works included Wild Honey, The Good Doctor, and the Tony Award winning Vanya, Sonia, Masha, and Spike. Well I don’t approve of this like Tolstoy at a performance of Uncle Vanya. Unfortunately, I had to tear my eyelids out to really see what’s happening here. Because it isn’t just the plays that have the childish references to Chekhov in their titles that have been influenced by The Bad Doctor, but really all pieces have been influenced by Chekhov. Because really, the elements of the human condition that riddled the lines of Chekhov’s pieces are littered throughout all pieces after him. I now see that all theater is just an attempt to finish the same damn play that Chekhov couldn’t write. It is with this realization that I must make the calm decision of excising all theater from my life that was written after Ivanov. I will leave Mike Myers in charge of the role of Vanya regardless of what anyone else says because I want to see the morphine scene done by one person. I bid you all adieu #IbsenDidItBetter #TheaterIsADoll’sHouse
Sincerely,
Sam “whenever I see Street Name on an application I’m tempted to put DJ Froyo instead of Towerview” Kebede