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
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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