<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>Annotated student edition of Chekhov's masterpiece play, in a translation by Michael Frayn<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br>A masterpiece of Russian drama, now in a student edition<br/><br/><br/><p><br/>Along with Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya is credited as one of Chekhov's masterpieces and a significant precursor of modern drama. Set on a country estate in late nineteenth century Russia, Uncle Vanya is in part a study of the enervation of Russian middle-class provincial life. The major dynamics between the characters themselves are centred on two obsessive love affairs that lead nowhere and a flirtation that brings disaster. Mixing the tragic and the absurd and dealing with a form that allows for ambiguity and contradiction, Uncle Vanya has been deemed "the first modernist play". (David Lan)<br/><br/>"It is the element of might-have-been in Chekhov's characters that makes their sense of waste so tragic ... I know of no more moving climax in world drama." Guardian<br/><br/>Definitive translation by acclaimed playwright Michael Frayn<p>Methuen Student Editions are expertly annotated texts of a wide range of plays. Contains the complete text of the play, the volume contains a chronology of the playwright's life and work; an introduction giving the background to the play; a discussion of various interpretations; and notes on individual words and phrases in the text<br/></p><br/><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br><p><b>Anton Chekhov</b> (1860-1904), Russian physician, dramatist and author, is considered to be one of the greatest writers of short stories and modern drama. Born in Taganrog, a port town near the Black Sea, he attended medical school at Moscow University. He began writing to supplement his income, writing short humorous sketches of contemporary Russian life. A successful literary careered followed, before his premature death of TB at the age of 44. He is best-remembered for his four dramatic masterpieces: <i>The Seagull</i> (1896), <i>Uncle Vanya</i> (1899), <i>Three Sisters</i> (1901) and <i>The Cherry Orchard</i> (1904). <p/><b>Michael Frayn</b> read Russian, French and Moral Sciences (Philosophy) at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He began his career as a journalist on the <i>Manchester Guardian</i> and the <i>Observer</i>. His award-winning plays include <i>Alphabetical Order</i>, <i>Make and Break</i> and <i>Noises Off</i>, all of which received Best Comedy of the Year awards, while <i>Benefactors </i>was named Best Play of the Year. Two of his more recent plays, <i>Copenhagen </i>and <i>Democracy</i>, also won numerous awards (including, for Copenhagen, the Tony in New York and the Prix Molière in Paris). In 2006 <i>Donkeys' Years </i>was revived in the West End thirty years after its premiere and was followed in 2007 by <i>The Crimson Hotel</i>, at the Donmar, and by <i>Afterlife</i>, at the National Theatre, in 2008. Frayn has translated Chekhov's last four plays, dramatised a selection of his one-act plays and short stories under the title <i>The Sneeze</i>, and adapted his first, untitled play, as <i>Wild Honey</i>. Frayn's novels include <i>Towards the End of the Morning</i> (in the USA, <i>Against Entropy</i>), <i>The Trick of It</i>, <i>A Landing on the Sun</i>, <i>Headlong </i>and <i>Spies</i>.</p>
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