Alan Moore says all it takes is one bad day to reduce a man to lunacy. Ivanov has several bad days to choose from.
"Ivanov," one of Anton Chekhov's lesser-known plays, centers around a fiercely idealistic man at the turn of the century in Russia. Ivanov, though living in a very orthodox Christian state, marries a Jewish woman, teaches serf children to read and believes in organic farming. In other words, he is your average Green Party poster boy of the modern world.
"So we have this really idealistic, progressive guy," said Eugene Douglas, the director of the play. "And suddenly, he's caught in a crisis. He's not in love with his wife anymore - there's a threat of infidelity that he's fighting with. He's in a huge amount of debt and he's surrounded by drunks and scoundrels and doesn't know what to do. Oh, and did I mention his wife is dying of tuberculosis?"
The play, which is under two hours, jumps off from this point with a humorous, funny, vulgar edge that Chekhov lacks in his other plays.
"I want people to take an interest in Chekhov after seeing this play," Douglas said. "The classics are usually separated from us with a pane of glass, and you can't access them. What I've tried to do with this play is make it relevant to people."
Douglas is an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"I've always been a fan of Chekhov," Douglas said. "Four years ago in L.A., I was at work and pulled out a book of Chekhov's plays. I started reading this one and was amazed that I hadn't read it before."
Unlike Chekhov's better-known plays, "Ivanov" isn't as melancholy, though the character is in the midst of a depression.
"The characters are more sharply drawn," Douglas said. "There are people who could be considered actual villains in this play. There's a hero. It's so much more raw than most of his other plays."
The play was written in 10 days, and after the criticism, Chekhov decided to spend a few more years reworking it. "Ivanov" has been further revised by Ronald Harwood, who wrote the screenplay for "The Pianist" with even more humor and vulgarity than the original.
"Usually when people think of a classic they think of dry, dull, incomprehensible stuff," Douglas said. "You can't understand it. It's long. It's boring. But we've tried to take a classic and make it moving, sexy, goofy and enthralling - something that people can come and see and say, 'Hey, that's actually pretty true.'"
The vulgarity and the very human quality of this play has made it something that people on the other side of the world 100 years later can still connect to.
"The purpose of theater is communication," Douglas said. "There's something about our experience that can't be defined in a great discussion or conversation. But what theater does is engage your imagination. You participate with what's happening onstage. Of course it's to entertain, too. I don't want to sound all highfalutin', but I think it's also to be in a dialogue with the audience."
What: "Ivanov"
When: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Where: Rodey Theatre
Price: $5 students, $7 staff and faculty, $12 general admission
