This isn’t your ordinary Chekhov play. Take a seat and put on your headphones. As the action begins to unfold, the director has something to say…
When Soviet scholars discovered Chekhov’s First Play, the title page was missing, the play had too many characters, too many themes, too much action.
All in all, it’s generally dismissed as unstageable. Like life.
Following the critically acclaimed Lippy (Young Vic), Dead Centre present this deconstructed and absurd take on Chekhov’s First Play exploring the essence of Chekhov and performance itself.
Co-commissioned by Battersea Arts Centre and Irish Arts Center, New York. Co-production: Dublin Theatre Festival, Baltoscandal (Rakvere) and Le Théâtre National de Bordeaux en Aquitaine. Project co-produced by NXTSTP, with the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union. Supported by the Wellcome Trust and Arts Council England.
Reviews
Chekhov's First Play
★★★★★
“Dead Centre's astute, perceptive and funny dismantling of Chekhov and of theatre”
Chekhov's First Play
★★★★
“A dazzlingly strange reworking of Chekhov”
Chekhov's First Play
★★★★
“Witty, inventive and original”