Episode 002: Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov

Host: Douglas Schatz Guest: Nick Hern, Founder of Nick Hern Books and publisher of Conor McPherson’s new adaptation of the Chekhov classic.

Welcome to The Play Podcast where we explore the greatest new and classic plays. Each episode we choose a single play – often one that is on stage somewhere in the UK – and we talk about it in more depth than you will find in the reviews of any one production. We’ll discuss the play’s origins, its themes, characters, structure and impact. For us the play is the thing.

To coincide with Irish playwright Conor McPherson’s new adaptation of the Chekhov classic, and its West End run, we talk with his publisher Nick Hern. When in 1889 Chekhov presented the first version of the play that would eventually become Uncle Vanya it was a devastating failure. The playwright withdrew the play and didn’t write another play for five years. Yet the four great plays that followed sealed Chekhov’s reputation as one of the fathers of modern drama. What was different about his plays that changed the way we view theatre? Why are they billed as “comedies” when the characters are so unrelentingly unhappy? How are his portraits of the idle Russian aristocracy at the turn of the 20th century still relevant today? Nick and I and try to answer these questions, and share our love of Uncle Vanya and Chekhov.

Find full show notes at www.theplaypodcast.com