To escape his problems, Ivanov spends his time away from home at Pavel Lyebedev’s house where we meet the eclectic mix of his enthusiastic but unproductive friends. They play cards, drink vodka, gossip, and wait for fireworks but the boredom of their lives does not help Ivanov’s depression. Then one night Ivanov kisses Lyebedev’s young daughter, Sasha, and feels a new stirring of passion he thought he had lost. “Sasha is like a younger Ivanov,” director Victor Vasuta explains. “Her enthusiasm represents another chance for him to grasp at some of the idealistic goals he always hoped to achieve – his dream of being able to provide for everyone in society.”

This first among Chekhov`s plays offers some of the best comedy he was ever to write. Much of the humour comes from Ivanov’s interaction with and contrast to his down-to-earth colleagues  - from the honest but priggish Doctor Lvov to the pragmatic estate manager Michael Borkin. Add Chekhov’s surprise ending and you will agree with critic Andrew Billen who said of the London premiere, “This is a mature play in its own right and a tremendous night at the theatre.”

“I feel there are three great forms of theatre: the ancients Greeks, Shakespeare, and Chekov,” says Victor. “Stoppard does a wonderful job of capturing the natural rhythm of the English language…. With my knowledge of Russian history and language, I hope to convey the nuances of the Russian context and to express the particular passion of each character.”

At the heart of this and other Chekhov plays is the conflict between the big ideals of youth who are willing fight to overcome social troubles, and the small, petty issues of day-by-day life. Ivanov is caught in the middle – he dreams about a new vision for Russia while those around him are caught up in their personal struggles. Ironically, while others are using what little money they have to make a profit, Ivanov, with his egotistical goal of providing for all the peasants, is not able to produce anything. Over the five years of the play, the small issues in his life come big and insurmountable to his own grand ideals. “We might say Ivanov is about the big Apocalypse of an unknown country landlord trapped in an illusion about himself.”  Even love is accidental for Ivanov. He is blinded by Sasha’s youthful passion about saving Russia.

ANTON CHEKHOV
Anton Chekhov, 19th century Russian author, short story writer and playwright, was one of the most popular great Russian writers. Referred to as a ‘moral compass’, his plays and short stories are known for their realistic examination of the lives of ordinary Russians. Born in 1860 in Taganrog, a small port in southern Russia, Chekhov was the son of an unsuccessful shopkeeper. When he was 15, his father went bankrupt, and the family left for Moscow to avoid paying debts. Chekhov stayed behind to finish school but was deeply affected by the separation. When he was 19, Chekhov joined his family in Moscow and studied medicine at Moscow University. While studying medicine, he also began writing stories, and by the time he became a doctor, he had Spublished hundreds of them. His first book, Motley Stories, was successful enough to inspire him further to pursue writing as a profession. At 28, he began to be taken seriously as a writer, and he was awarded a literary prize.  Chekhov suffered from tuberculosis for some time, and by his late 30s he had to move to the warmer climate at Yalta in the Crimea, in southern Russia. There he wrote his most famous plays: Uncle Vanya, The Seagull, The Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. He was elected fellow of the Moscow Academy of Science, but resigned when his fellow member, Maxim Gorky, was dismissed by the Tsar’s order.
Ref: great-writers.suite101.com

TOM STOPPARD
Playwright Sir Tom Stoppard was born Tomás Straüssler on 3 July 1937 in Zlín, Czechoslovakia. He grew up in Singapore and India during the Second World War and moved to England in 1946 with his mother and stepfather, his own father having been killed in Singapore. Educated at schools in Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire, he became a journalist and a theatre critic in London and began writing plays for radio and television. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1967) premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1966, it came to the attention of Kenneth Tynan, then working for the National Theatre, and it was produced both at the National and on Broadway in 1967, winning a Tony Award for Best Play (USA) in 1968.  His play Jumpers (1972) was staged at the National Theatre in 1972 followed by his adaptation of Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba. Travesties was first staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1974, transferring to New York in 1975 where it won a Tony Award for Best Play. Stoppard was on the board of the National Theatre from 1989-2003. His trilogy of plays set in 19th century Russia, The Coast of Utopia was first staged at the National Theatre in 2002. His latest plays are Heroes (2005) and Rock n Roll (2006). He has written the screenplay for The Bourne Ultimatum, as well as this new English version of Chekov’s Ivanov (2008). Tom Stoppard was knighted in 1997.
Ref: www.contemporarywriters.com