{"product_id":"9781780012599","title":"Chekhov: Shorts (NHB Classic Plays)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis collection features Chekhov's best-known short plays in brand new translations: three farces, two comic duologues and a monologue, all of them referred to by Chekhov as 'vaudevilles' and all written in the late 1880s before any of his great full-length plays. 'I don't much care for theatre,' he wrote at the time, 'but I do enjoy vaudevilles.'\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bear\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Proposal\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Wedding\u003c\/i\u003e are all farces on the preposterous busness of courtship and marriage. \u003ci\u003eA Tragic Figure\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSwansong\u003c\/i\u003e are comic duologues: one about a civil servant sweltering in Moscow coping with the incessant demands of his family from their summer dacha, the other about a melancholy old actor perked up by memories of past glories. \u003ci\u003eOn the Evils of Tobacco\u003c\/i\u003e is a bittersweet monologue in which a scientific lecture is hijacked by thoughts of domestic misery.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThese accurate and actable translations by Chekhov expert Stephen Mulrine reveal a dramatist revelling in the broad comedy of human behaviour, a comedy which was refined in his later masterpieces.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHighly entertaining, these comic shorts offer a fascinating insight into Chekhov's development as a dramatist, and will provide actors at any level - student, amateur or professional - with an ideal showcase.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis edition also includes an introduction, a chronology of key dates, and a pronunciation guide.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hern, Nick Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47152131735792,"sku":"9781780012599","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781780012599_p0.jpg?v=1763710805","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781780012599","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}