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ATON CHEKHOV
wrote hundreds of short stories that most people never
heard of. Few have been dramatized.
So where does one get the chance to
see a Chekhov story, performed as a story, complete with
third-person narration, and in Russian as well? The
answer: in New Haven, at the Yale Repertory Theater,
where a Russian troupe, MTYZ Theater/ Moscow New
Generation Theater, is presenting its production of
Chekhov's "Rothschild's Fiddle," adapt-"d by the
director, scholar and professor, Kama Ginkas.
The story is about Yakov, a forlorn, abusive,
anti-Semitic coffin-maker who complains ceaselessly that
not enough people in his town are dying, and that when
they do, his artfully designed, hand-carved product is
not necessarily in demand. Some of the solvent or the
titled, having gone for better treatment to a big city,
die there. How then can a poor man be expected to make a
living? Yakov supplements his meager income by playing
as a fiddler at Jewish weddings, in duet with
Rothschild, the despised Jew, on flute.
The performance is in Russian and ' to super titles,
less distracting than in many opera houses, are
esj^ntial.
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Don't be put
off by them, though.
- Mr. Ginkas has magically distilled; the famously
elusive Chekovian style without emphasizing either
its heartbreak or humor. And though the source of
the play is a short story, theatricality is everywhere
in th" adaptation! Dark screens are emblazoned by
shafts of jolting bright light. Bursts of indigenous
music signify life's mood swings, joyful and sad.
For the sets, sculpted blonde wood in stunning arrangement
illuminates peasant life with modern visual sensibility,
at times starkly spare, as when a plank turns into
a makeshift coffin on the cheap.
But all this would be an abstract creative vision if
the four actors were not so extraordinary.
A dance of exultant madness by the scrawny, oppressed,
unstoppably
upbeat Jew (Igor Yasulovich) symbolizes affirmation,
redemption and sorrow sublimated.
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One is haunted by the two faces of Marfa, the
70-year-old, never-caressed wife to Yakov, flashed back
from berated hag to sublime soul mate. Blankly peering
out at the void, suddenly enlivened by the memory of
their child who died, blissfully awaiting the escape
only death offers, Arina Nesterova is eloquent in
movement and in silences, sometimes mouthing words
soundlessly. An actress of astonishing transformational
gifts, her straight back atone imparts an elegant,
transcendent air.
Aleksei Dubrovsky gives a chilly performance as a
doctor's uncaring assistant. Yakov (Valery Barinov),
"never in a good mood," rages and bellows at life
passing uselessly, "a complete and utter waste."
Yet an otherworldly tale of regret and loss emerges
as an accessible ode to renewal and possibility.
Mr. Ginkas is in communion with Chekhov, who had
a direct line to the human soul.
"Rothschild's Fiddle" is at the Yale Repertory
Theater's University Theater, 222 York Street,
New Haven, through Saturday. Information:
(203) 432-1234 or http://www.yalerep.org/.
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