Download Chekhov

Moscow Art Theatre
Anton Chekhov
By:
Linda Bashinskaya
Pamela Whitcomb
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a famous
play writer born in Taganrog, Russia on
January 29, 1860. Chekhov attended a school
for Greek boys before his father moved their
family to Moscow due to bankruptcy. After
grammar school, Chekhov enrolled into
Medical school and later became a doctor.
His experience in this field explains a lot of
the tragic characters in his plays. While
attending medical school, Chekhov wrote
and publish comic stories which he used to
support his family, in little time his gained
him wide fame. He regularly contributed to
St. Petersburg papers and even wrote 2 full
novels. His novel, “The Shooting Party”
even got translated into English. In 1888
Chekhov was awarded with the Pushkin
Prize. The failure of “The Wood Demon”
was a drawback for Chekov in 1889.
Author’s History Continued
In 1892 he moved to Melikhove and became a full
time writer. In 1897 he became ill with tuberculosis.
In 1901 he finally married an actress who had
performed in his plays by the name of Olga Knipper.
This didn’t last long because in 1904, Chekhov died
in Badenweiler, Germany. After death he remained
pretty unknown until after World War I when his
plays got translated into English. He wrote several
hundred plays in his life time. “The Seagull” was the
play which really gave Anton Chekhov fame over his
playwrights.
Historical Information
A Marriage Proposal is a Russian play
that was written in the late 1880s.
Anton Chekhov moved to an estate
in the country in Melikhove in the
late 19th century. This life change
might have had something to do
with the production of this play.
Chekhov must've had a fascination
for the country side and showed it
in through his work.
This play write is about a wealthy
young lady named Natalia and her
life long neighboring friend, Lomov,
who comes to her house to
propose but mistakenly takes a
wrong turn when they begin to
argue about who the rightful owner
of the meadows bordering their
properties is.
Type of Literature
This play was performed in the Moscow Art Theatre.
This is rated the finest art theatre in the world for
realistic production. Many of the world’s most famous
plays were shown here. This theatre influenced
Americans to create a theatre of their own, The Group
Theatre, this was accomplished in the 1930s. The
Moscow Art Theatre was founded by Oleg Yefremov in
1898.
Fun Facts
In the 1990s Moscow
would hold festivals to
bring attention to the
theatrical life. In 1992
the Chekhov Festival
was founded to honor
Chekhov’s plays. This
is held every two years.