An offhand reference to wild ducks is the closest you get to Chekhov’s brilliance in “Chekhovek,” an ill-advised adaptation of the Russian master’s short stories. Like “The Sneeze,” last season’s similar attempt by Michael Frayn (“Noises Off”), this show demonstrates that what works on the page doesn’t necessarily work onstage.
And if a genius like Frayn couldn’t pull it off, what chance did adaptor/director Melania Levitsky have?
The production has a charming modesty, with a cast of five and simple set — some wooden trunks, a few chairs and old-fashioned footlights. Folk dances and songs frame the proceedings, with soulful background music provided by an offstage violinist.
But the rich humanity of Chekhov’s tales is barely discernible in these vaudeville-style sketches. Particularly unfortunate was the choice to break up one of his best-known stories, “The Lady With the Dog,” about an adulterous affair between a prosperous banker and a much younger woman, into six segments scattered throughout the evening, dissipating its impact.
Such delicately touching tales as “The Chemist’s Wife,” in which the title character realizes her marital unhappiness after an encounter with two drunkenly flirtatious soldiers, are rendered with overly broad comic strokes. Others, such as the shtick-laden “The Death of a Government Clerk,” about a hapless bureaucrat who can’t stop apologizing to the military officer he’s messily sneezed on, are simplylaborious.
It may be time to leave these short prose masterpieces alone and return to the plays. It’s probably been weeks since the last revival of “Uncle Vanya.”