The Real Chekhov

What is Chekhov’s method of ensuring audience participation? What does his stage direction ‘through tears’ mean? What happens between the first and second acts of The Seagull ? Is there any reason for the despondency in Chekhov’s drama? This book, first published in 1972, discusses these questions and many other issues around Chekhov’s last four plays. David Magarshack, the leading translator and biography of many of Russia’s greatest writers, closely examines Chekhov’s work for the relevant fac