Cherry Orchard

keep all of those long Russian names straight.” I had planned to make a very faithful
translation of the original play, but this observation troubled me. Wouldn’t it be just another
act of “translation” for an American audience, to provide them clear access to Chekhov’s
idiom by making the names uniform? In the end, I settled upon very specific forms of
address for the characters which I maintained throughout the play, in spite of how many
variants might have appeared in the original text. This is my way of remaining faithful to
Chekhov, and to my audience as well.
What is lost in this act of translation are some of the subtleties of Russian names, which
would be lost on an American audience in any case. I have attempted to preserve the sense of
the hierarchy of names in certain places, but again, I have used an American equivalent.
Wherever a slightly more formal address is required, I have rendered it using “Miss” or
“Mr.” in conjunction with the first name. So, in Cherry Orchard, the main characters are
“Miss Lovey” or “Mr. Leon,” as opposed to Lyubov Andreevna and Leonid Andreevich,
their true Russian names. These points are minor, yet it has always been my intention to
clarify the meaning of this great writer for an American audience, to give him a full and
appropriate hearing, and never to change or muddy his work. Because audiences simply need
to hear what Chekhov has to say about happiness, struggle and human connection, now more
than ever.
Georgy Tovstonogov, the great, late 20th century Russian director said “Chekhov was ahead
of his time, and productions of his plays must not look to the past, and perhaps not even to
the theater of the present; Chekhov is a man of the future, and it is there that he must be
sought.” He was not suggesting that productions of these rural Russian plays be set in some
far-flung space colony or reinterpreted as underwater ballet. He was simply pointing out that
even though the characters may be dressed in structured bodices and long, full skirts, or in
heavy suits and stiff shirts with vests, the significance of their desires and needs must be
rediscovered as contemporary with each passing moment in each new production. In this
way, interpreters can discover what is truly universal, what is truly transcendent about
Chekhov.
Of course, that’s just one fool’s opinion.
Curt Columbus is Artistic Director of Trinity Repertory Company. His translations of
adaptations include Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. He recently received the Joseph
Jefferson Citation for New Adaptation for Three Sisters. His translation, Chekhov, The Four
Major Plays, is published by Ivan R. Dee.
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