# Chekhov's Last Love

Людмила Николаевна Ансельм

According to memoirs of KNIPPER-CHEKHOV AND CHEKHOV describes the relationship between Chekhov and his wife.

Chekhov"s Last Love


by Ludmila Anselm

translated by Jim Clinton


Cast:


Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova - famous old actress of the Moscow Art Theatre, about 85 years old,


Anna - student at the Moscow Art Theatre"s school.


Olga Leonardovna Knipper (may be the same actress, as the old) - young leading actress of the Moscow Art Theatre, about 30 years old


Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - famous Russian writer, about 40 years old.


Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko - director of the Moscow Art Theatre, about 45 years old.


Maria Pavlovna Chekhova, Masha - sister of Chekhov, about 35 years old.


Time - 1954(First scene), 1898 -1904 (all following scenes).


Place - Knipper"s dressing room in the Theatre and the space of the stage.


Note: During the reading of letters by Knipper and by Chekhov the actors read straight ahead to the audienc


ACT I

Scene 1


The year is 1954. A dressing room in the theater. Knipper is restlessly sitting in an armchair waiting for her "Master Class" student. She suddenly stands, goes to a nearby coat rack, and casually starts to inspect each coat. Finding one to her satisfaction she nostalgically tries it on. There is a knock at the door. She quickly lays the coat aside.


Knipper: Come in.


(Anna opens the door; she enters trying to appear confident)


Anna: Olga Leonardova, I"m sorry I"m late.


Knipper: Good day Anna. What is the matter? You always have come right on time... but today ...


Anna: I"m sorry... I couldn"t... Olga Leonardovna, I have good news! Our Theater School will do, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov"s "The Cherry Orchard" as our final exam.


Knipper: Grand! Have you auditioned for a part yet?


Anna: The director, Vadim, asked me to play the heroine Ranevskaia.


Knipper: Here"s your chance... Anna, this is the grandest, most memorable stage entrance of any Chekhov heroine...


Anna: You have played Ranevskaia so many times...


Knipper: Ah, yes! I"ve played Ranevskaia my whole life... almost until I was 80 years old... Have you learned the part?


Anna: Yes... by heart.


Knipper: That"s a start... Describe Ranevskaia,s character, please.


Anna: She... is light headed.


Knipper: In your view... and?


Anna: She loves... life.


Knipper: Maybe...


Anna: Flighty and fickle...


Knipper: In what sense "fickle"?


Anna: In sex... she is an elderly woman who wants everybody to love her.


Knipper: Just what age do you think she is?


Anna: Fifty-five I suppose.


Knipper: My dear, this is "elderly"? I"m 85 and I still want everybody to swoon over me.


Anna: I"m sorry! I didn"t mean to offend you...


Knipper (offended): I"m not offended. Anton wrote me that Ranevskayia is not hard to play... You only need to smile in your soul and move graciously...


(Pause)


Here... put on this coat, and walk as Ranevskaia"s entrance...


(Anna slips into the coat, and walks)


Knipper (harshly): You walk like a chambermaid... Don"t turn your back. Chin up... higher. Move slowly with dignity... back straight.


(Anna walks smoothly, slower, erect, and with her head slightly turned.)


Knipper(not pleasantly): You"re swimming? Be tense, like a horse before a race. Every vein bulging with just one desire...


Anna: The desire to gallop?


Knipper: To arouse men!


Anna: What men?


Knipper: All... and now smile, and throw your head back...


(Anna smiles and tries to walk as directed)


Knippper: Laugh infectiously so the whole audience will smile....


Anna: Olga Leonardova, I can"t....


Knipper: Anna! What"s the matter? ... Your mind doesn"t seem to be here...


Anna: Olga Leonardovna... I"ve just come from the doctor... I am pregnant!

(Pause)


I don"t know what to do...


Knipper: How far along are you?


Anna: Two months...


Knipper: Anna, of course you have to decide for your self... Two months gives some time yet...


(Pause)


(Business like)... We will continue to work. Focus... Concentrate.


Anna: Wait a second... I"ll try...


(Pause. Anna collects herself,)


Knipper: Anna, a great actress has to have a strong character... I performed in any situation, despite sickness... through pain...


(Pause)


The moment I walked on the stage, I listened for the breathing in the hall. They followed my every movement... my expression... my smile...


Anna: You were not just an accomplished actress, but also the wife of Chekhov. They envied you...


Knipper: Envied, because they couldn"t imagine how to be the wife of a famous writer and a leading actress too*******... Envied and hated too


Anna: Hated?


Knipper: They thought I was a bad wife... My German Parentage was not a "plus"... They were jealous of their now famous country Doctor turned writer. Our romance existed largly in our letters between Moscow and Yalta... over 1000 miles... over 400 letters... I"ve kept them all...


******Anna: When did you first meet Anton Pavlich?**


(Pause)


******Knipper: Stanislavsky, Nemirovich, I and a group of actors were bound together in starting a new theater... We all were worried how to find new plays with new modern interesting ideas to attract intelligent audiences ...Chekhov was "a good bet". After a "Seagull" performance Chekhov and I met at a party at Chekhov"s dacha, and from this moment began our relationship... All Moscow followed the relationship between Chekhov and me... *******


(She pulls out a large messy stack of letters, pictures, and documents on thin paper from her desk).

Black out. End of scene.


Scene 2

(Flash back)


The year is back in 1898. Knipper"s dressing room. A poster advertising "The Seagull" hangs on the wall.


( NOTE many following references to play titles in the script can be deleted provided there are "play announcement posters" on the wall)


(Enter Nemirovichl)

.

Nemirovich: Olga, how hard I worked to get this "Seagull" for our theater! Checkov didn"t want us to put it on. What a weight for all us to carry...


Knipper: You think I"m not tense enough?


Nemirovich: I"m tense too, what a challenge...


Knipper: It"s a crazy play. They laughed at it in Saint Petersburg.


Nemirovich: The play got off on the wrong foot... It"s time to present it to the crem de la crem, Moscow; I know we can do it.


Knipper: We are just getting started... Why us?


Nemirovich: Now is the time to step up and risk it. We finally have respect here and Checkov is the most famous playwright in Russia. If our production is a success we will have saved Checkov"s reputation. He will forever be on our side. He will give us his plays first.


(Pause)


You know? ... He has an eye for you!


Knipper: The "Ivan The Terrible" performance last year? He wasn"t alone...


Nemirovich: His sister Masha was with him... Now she has come all the way up from Yalta just to talk with Stanislavski... I heard she pleaded and even cried trying to convince him to cancel our production.


Knipper: No! Not now!


Nemirovich: Yes! Stanislavski explained how we just can"t cancel now... He assured her everything would go well.


Knipper: If they start to laugh like in Petersburg I don"t know what I"ll do.


Nemirovich: It won"t happen. Anyhow you know, some times you have to ignore the audience...


(Masha rushes in)


Masha (breathless): Vladimir Ivanovich! I"m glad I found you.


Nemirovich: Maria Pavlovna! Masha, how nice to see you. Are you well? I hear you talked with Stanislavski...


Masha: But Anton is not well. I don"t think he could survive a second failure of "The Seagull".


Nemirovich (soothing): Masha, why should it fail? I"m sure everything will be fine. Here, drink some water... better now?


(Masha drinks water).


Masha: I don"t feel better... It was horrible. The audience started to laugh in the first act. Anton slipped out and wandered around the whole night. We didn"t find him until morning*************

.

(Pause)


**Olga? Do you play Arkadina?


Knipper: Yes, I... Don"t worry, Masha, everything will be fine. Don"t worry.


Nemirovich: Now stop worrying... Olga, you"re on in five minute... Masha we are invite you to see the play.**


(All exit)


(After some time Olga, Masha and Nemirovich return. They are tense. Olga has added some clothes indicating that she just played Akadina in the premier performance of "The Seagull".)

(for a performance you'd need to re structure this transition)


Knipper: Why is it so quiet? I need water.


(Masha pours a glass of water and gives it to Olga)


Nemirovich: Olg....


(The theater suddenly explodes with applause, and shouts of Bravo, Masha throws herself on Olga hugging her. Nemirovich hugs and kisses Olga)


Nemirovich (bowing to Olga): "I lay it at your feet"...


Knipper (acting): "This seagull? Whyt? A symbol?"...


Nemirovich: It could be a symbol of success for us! Thanks to Anton!


Masha: Thank God! It"s a success I"ll write Anton!


Nemirovich: Now, we should have no problem getting his next play "Uncle Vania"...


Masha: I doubt it...


Nemirovich: Oh?


Masha: Anton gave "Uncle Vania" to the Maly Theater a year ago... But he hasn"t agreed with some changes they want...


Nemirovich: I"ll telegraph him today ... we"ll promise not to change a thing!


Masha: You could try... Oh, Olga... I almost forget... Anton asked me to give you his greetings.


Knipper (jumps for joy): Greetings? Oh how nice! Give him my regards and congratulations! Masha, I"d like to be acquainted with your brother.


Masha: Of course! Of course! We will invite you to our dacha when he comes up from Yalta. I must write him how talented you are...


Knipper: Masha, I would like to get to know you better too.


(Olga hugs Masha. Masha exits. Olga casts a very significant glance and a little smile toward Nemirovich who returns the smile with a nod of the head. Nemirovich exit)


Scene 3

(Flash back)


(Knipper on stage)


Knipper (to audience): In the spring I spent three wonderful days at the Chekov dacha near Moscow. They were three days remarkable days, full of joy and sun...Then when the theatre season was over, I went on holiday to the Caucasus Mountains to visit my brother. Our correspondence began when I was in the Caucasus":


(Checkov enters and stands. He appears to be spry and in excellent health.)


Chekhov: Dear actress! What is happening? Where are you? You"ve forgotten us. The writer has been forgotten, how awful that is, how (******actual russian word? Fiercse*******, how heartless! No news... I shan"t be going Yalta before the beginning of July. I press your hand in mine... and wish you all the best.


Knipper: And I thought it was the author Chekhov who had forgotten the actress Knipper - so you do remember me from time to time...


Chekhov: Dear remarkable actress, if you only knew how much pleasure your letter has given me. I bow low to you, very low, so that my forehead touches the bottom of my well... The writer, Chekhov, hasn"t forgotten the actress, Knipper... he finds your idea of going to Yalta together an attractive one...


(Exit Chekhov)


Knipper (To Anna): We met on the steamboat in Black Sea in July and then traveled together to Yalta... After some days in Yalta we went to Moscow together... Anton gave his play "Uncle Vania" to Nemirovich, and we had rehearsals of "Uncle Vania" every day. I seldom met Anton...


(Knipper exit)


Scene 4

(Flash back)


Chekhov and Masha in Moscow.


(Masha enters)


Chekhov: It"s getting cold here.. I"m going south to Yalta tomorrow...


Masha: I"ll help you pack... Say... I"ve been wondering... How many days did you spend in Yalta with Olga?


Chekhov: Twelve days or so... We strolled around the city, and thru the artists" streets...had a beer beside the sea. One day we rode horse back part way up the mountain to see more of the Black Sea...


Masha: Anton, I"m so happy you have become friends with Olga... What"s your impression of her?


Chekhov: Actress Knipper is very pleasant....


Masha: Yes, she"s very charming, and of course talented...

(Pause)


She has just one failing...


Chekhov: Oh?


Masha: I don"t know whether to tell you or not. You might be upset...


Chekhov: You"ve started ...finish...


Masha: She and Nemirovich have some strong connection....


Chekhov: She was his student....


Masha: No... Last week I met them on the street... Nemirovich was wearing a coat with moiré silk lapels looking very stylish... Olga was dressed to the nines too... I thought, "What a beautiful couple!" But then, I don"t know why, I became distressed...


(Pause)


Chekhov: I knew that Olga was fond of Nemirovich and now ... it seems to be more then just fondness, I envy him...


Masha: Nemirovich gave Olga her first chance. He helped her to be a leading actress... What can you do?


Chekhov: I can help her to be the best actress in Russia... and may be in the world...


(Masha and Chekhov exit)


Scene 5

(Flash back)


Knipper and Nemirovich in Moscow.


(Knipper"s dressing room. A poster "Uncle Vania" is on the wall. Applause is heard. Knipper and Nemirovich smiling enter)


Nemirovich: What a success! The first performances were rough, but now we have our fifth performance and the house is packed. I hope Anton knows how Moscow has responded to his "Uncle Vania"...


Knipper: He wrote me, that he had gone to bed, and telegrams started coming from Moscow... He got chilled jumping from bed to the telephone every ten minutes. The next day he had his robe and slippers on... but no telegrams arrived.


Nemirovich: "The Seagull" turned out so well that Checkov didn"t hesitate to give us "Uncle Vania". In fact, it was surprisingly easy...


Knipper: Don"t forget my part...


Nemirovich: You were superb. Your Elena Andrevna is just glorious.


Knipper: Aren"t you forgetting something?


Nemirovich: Of course I remember that you and Anton have become good friends.


Knipper: Not just "friends"...


Nemirovich: Do you want to say...


Knipper: No, we"re not yet lovers, but ... We exchange letters nearly every day. We don"t discuss the future... Yet we have an agreement...


Nemirovich: Oh...?


Knipper: It"s a secret... I can"t tell anybody, but when I do you"ll be the first.


Nemirovich: We"ll surely get Anton"s next play!


Knipper: No new plays ahead...


Nemirovich: Suggest to him that he write a new play just for our theater!


(Masha runs in excited)


Masha: Congratulations! I was so absorbed.... I"m sad that my brother is so far away...


Nemirovich: Yes, it"s too bad Anton can"t experience this happiness...


(Pause)


Knipper (snickering): Anton wrote me that he even envies the rats under our stage floor.


**Masha: He often complained in his letters, that he doesn"t see a reason to write plays when he can"t see his own work?**


Nemirovich: Anton mentioned to me the plot for a new play called "Three Sisters", but he first wants to finish some short stories...


Masha: He has another plans... An earlier letter mentioned that he was going to cross the border this summer...


Knipper: The border? That"s news to me. Did he say where?


Masha: I don"t exactly; ... maybe something about southern France.


Knipper: We planned to spend the summer together!


(Turning to Nemirovich)


Volodia, we need to talk...


Nemirovich: This is serious. What do you think?


Knipper: We have to show him our plays... Ask Anton to come here. We"ll inspire him...


(Pause)


Nemirovich (smiling): And if Mohammed won"t come to the mountain?


Knipper (joyful): Go to him!


Nemirovich: Maybe in the spring we will take our company to Yalta....*******


Masha: What a wonderful idea!


Knipper (hugs Masha and jumps for joy): Masha! We"ll travel together. We"ll be together with Anton for Easter.


Masha: The air, trees, and flowers are enchanting in the spring!


Nemirovich: We"ll do our whole repertoire not just Checkov but Ibsen and Gorky too!


Knipper: Volodia, what an excellent idea. I give you a kiss.


(Exit all)


Scene 6

(Flash back)


Chekhov and Knipper in Yalta. They walked in Chekhov"s garden. Knipper keeps a rose in her hand)


Knipper: What beautiful roses in your garden! Aren"t these "American Beauty" roses?


Chekhov: Why Yes! I just planted them while waiting for you...

(Pause)


Chekhov: Say, whose idea was it that the whole Art Theater troupe should come down to Yalta?


Knipper: Nemirovch"s


Chekhov: I suspect that you had a hand in this escapade too. .....Truth, now!


Knipper: Very little...and who now invited Gorky, Rachmanov ....Bunin?


Chekhov: Guess...


Knipper: You of course..?


Chekhov: You know... This was the first time I"ve seen "Uncle Vania" staged!


Knipper: What did you think?


Chekhov: I"m very pleased ... Stanislavski did a fair job as Doctor Astrov. As Trigorin in "Seagull" he was not virile enough.


Knipper: Hmm. And me?


Chekhov: Yelena Andreevna is unforgettable.


Knipper: At first I was too aggressive, with gestures, and obvious nervousness. It depressed me, but Nemerovich suggested that some people have pain in their soul but they contain it and don"t act out. I centered myself, and became tightly calm... and that clearly was better. I"m happy you approve...

(Pause)


Chekhov: I"m also happy that you didn"t bring Vishnevski along. I can"t stand his conversation. His every toast is quoting "Uncle Vania".


Knipper: Agreed, but he played Uncle Vania well... I like hear his quoting...


Chekhov(quotes Uncle Vania): Like? Oh then ... "You are my happiness, my existence, my fountain of youth! ... I know... that the possibility of mutual feelings is minute, even nil. I desire nothing but to be able to look upon you, hear your voice..."


Knipper: Hush ..., the trees have ears...


Chekhov (he continues quoting from "Uncle Vania): "Allow me to dwell on love. Don"t take away the one thing that gives me some happiness, strength to go on, you are my life, my yearning..."......Uncle Vania?


(Both laugh)


Knipper: Wonderful... look dew is forming... I"m so happy... Beautiful evening, roses in the air, and fresh earth from your digging...


Chekhov: I love to dig in my garden...


Knipper: I don"t like to think that soon I have to go back in Moscow...


Chekhov: Olga, I have a grand old sherry up in my room.


Knipper: Do you think your mother and Masha are already asleep?


Chekhov: Of course. Why do you ask....dear?


Knipper: The stairs squeak, they could hear.


Chekhov: We"ll take each step together as one; they"ll think it"s me.


Knipper: And going back down to my room?


Chekhov: They will be sleeping even more soundly. ..Maybe you"ll have your shoes off!


(Chekhov exits)


Scene 7


Anna and Knipper


Knipper: That was very happy time*******... Then in August I had to go back to Moscow... We take leave tenderly, I cried... Our relations changed... We became lovers...


Anna: Then you were married?


Knipper: Not right away... to be lovers is easier than to be married.


Anna: Perhaps my problem too... It always happens...


Knipper: One has the usual affairs with men, but this affair was with a writer with delicate feelings... Winning him turned out to be far harder than I had thought ...


Anna: You pushed him?


Knipper: My dear! And just how else do you think a woman can end up with a husband?


Anna: I think that when a man puts a lot of effort into a relationship, he will highly value his woman.


Knipper: Did your director Vadim put much effort into seducing you?

(Pause)


It"s clear... Vadim chose you to be the lead, Ranevskaia.


Anna. Are you implying that actresses who get leading roles are the lovers of the directors?


Knipper: It"s traditional ... in Russian theater.


Anna: You had a lover too? Nemirovich?


Knipper: Yes...


Anna: And Chekhov? He knew about... this tradition?


Knipper: I believe he knew. He wasn"t naïve about life, and certainly not about love.


Anna: Why you didn"t marry Nemirovich?


Knipper: Dearie, Nemirovich was married.


Anna: It"s not a problem? He could divorce...


Knipper: In our time it was a problem... It wasn"t in my plans...

Nemirovich and I were partners ... We were obsessed of idea of creating a new theater...


Anna: Olga Leonardovna, tell me how you married Chekhov?...


Knipper: Do you think it woul be useful for you?


Anna: May be...


Knipper: Anna, I want to tell you all my story... it"s a long story... you have to be patient...


Anna: I"ll listen...


Scene 8

(Flash back)


Knipper in Moscow and Chekhov in Yalta.


Knipper: I am in Moscow, my dearest writer! The rehearsals had begun... Everyone greeted me and asked after you...


Chekhov: My darling Olya, my joy!... Stanislavski came down to see me... We talked about "Three Sisters", and I promised it by September...


Knipper: Nemirovich asked about a new play... For God"s sake, work on the play! So peaceful dreams, love me...I kiss you...


Chekhov: I hope the door will open and you"ll come in,


Knipper: I want to caress you, look at you... A lot of people believe we"re already married... It"s all very amusing, isn"t it? Are you smiling?


Chekhov: Dearest, I don"t know when I"m coming to Moscow... I"m writing a play... I"m not writing a play but a sort of mixture... There are a great many women characters... Keep well my little Freulein... Your Antonio *****


Knipper. Dear Anton. I"m terribly happy you have settled down to work. Tell me more about the play... It must be first class, you hear?


Chekhov: As regards my play, I"ll finish by September or October, or November, my dear love******... I must be at rehearsals; I must audition four important female roles, four young women... I can"t entrust them to Stanislavski. Don"t forget your Anton.


Knipper: Anton, you write so obscuraly - "I"ll come later". What does that mean?


Chekhov: My pet Olga, why this sorrowful, unhappy tone? Judging by your letter, you want a long conversation with serious faces and serious result... I don"t know what to say to you, except that I love you... We"re not together now... It"s not my fault, or yours, but that of the devil, who implanted the bacilli of tuberculoses in me and the love of art in you...


Knipper: Dear Anton, I haven"t wanted to be at home alone. I went to the Opera with Vishnevski... What do you think? But I want you, you...


(Pause)


Chekhov: So you went to the Opera with Vishnevski? He"s an abominalble actor. You deserve better... Well now... I will love you wildly like an Arab...


Knipper: Oh! Love me wildly like an Arab! What shall I love you like?... I give you a big kiss...


(Chekhov exits)


Scene 9

(Flash back)


Nemirovich and Knipper in Moscow.


Nemirovich: Olga! Anton promised to finish "Three Sisters" by September. It"s October!... What"s going on?


Knipper : The play is almost complete... now Anton wants to be at the rehearsals!


Nemirovich : Why can"t you get him to write here?...


(Pause)


Uh... Maybe he has a good friend in Yalta?


Knipper: He writes that he only loves me...


Nemirovich (expiered with idea): Olga, let's awaken some jealousy in him...


Knipper: I already told him that I was lonely and that I went to the Opera with Vishnevecki.


Nemirovich: Yes?


Knipper: Vishnevecki is one of his best friends, and his reply was light hearted ... He said that Vishnevecki was an abominable actor and that I deserved better!


Nemirovich: Then who could he perhaps be jealous of?


Knipper: I don"t know...You maybe?...


Nemirovich: Then write Anton something about me.


Knipper: I have told him I want some serious conversation with him.


Nemirovich: What kind of conversation? That just frightens him off.


Knipper : Volodia! I can"t be just part time a lover of even the famous writer Chekhov! I need intimacy.


Nemirovich: Wanting serious conversation won"t help... It just frightens men...


Knipper: And what do you suggest?


Nemirovich: Where is your womanly intuition? Think up something from your heart. We have to get Anton here fast. Here he will finish "Three Sisters".


Knipper: I"m tired, Volodia. I don"t want to think anymore right now.


Nemirovich: Olga, we are founding this new theater ... maybe a theater legend. This is the goal of my life and I hope it"s your goal too...


Knipper: Of course...


Nemirovich: You are the main face of our fledgling group. If your family name would be... Knipper-Chekhova! ... How"s that sound? Think about it!


Knipper: Oh!...


Nemirovich: I have to go.


Knipper: I have tea ready and your favorite jam...I"ll make a few changes to a letter just I"ve started to him...


(Olga sits at the table. Nemirovich pours and drinks tea. Pause while Knipper crosses out some lines and jots some new words)


Knipper (to Nemirovich): Listen!... My dear Anton! ..... Don"t be afraid, I don"t want a conversation with serious faces and serious result... We had tea with Vishnevski. Nemirovich was there too. Vishnevski lives in grand style... Everything in his home is dazzlingly clean and tidy and I"m thinking of marrying him...


Nemirovich: That"s more like it!


(Nemirovich exit)


Scene 11

(Flash back)


Chekhov in Yalta and Knipper in Moscow.


Chekhov: Play not finished. I bow. Kiss your hand. Antonius.


Knipper: It"s awful and rainy. I have just come from rehearsal. My feet are soaked because I had no galoshes and I have holes in my shoes. Vishnevski calls me the "dowerless bride" and laughs... No letter from you yesterday or today - I"m sad...


Knipper. Dear Anton, I don"t go anywhere except to the theatre and see Masha. Masha and I are becoming close friends... I"m afraid, you"ve decided to forget me and fall in love with someone else!


Knipper. I haven"t had a letter for about a week... Anton, that"s unkind. You don"t even write to Masha... Forgive me if you are working really hard...


Chekhov. Dearest Olya, I"ll come to Moscow in October. What a part I"ve got for you in "Three Sisters". Give me ten rubles and you can have it, otherwise I"ll give it to another actress. You"ll be Masha... Nothing new. Your Antuan


Knipper: Come as fast as you can...


Chekhov. Darling, I"ll be coming to Moscow on October 23. I"ll be at the theatre on the 23rd, definitely.


(Chekhov exit)


Scene 12

(Flash back)


Knipper and Nemirovich in Moscow.


(Knipper"s dressing room. A poster advertising "Three Sisters" is on the wall. Nemirovich enters)


Nemirovich: Olga, I"m worried about this play , the same Checkov theme: life is frightening... life is sad...


Knipper: Life is change...


Nemirovich: Did you ask Anton if we could drop some monologs?


Knipper: Anton agreed. He"s also concerned about the play...


(Pause)


Nemirovich: Olga, won"t you be inviting us to your wedding soon? ... Or has something changed?...


Knipper: Nothing... He"s dragging his feet, worried about freedom..., I think... It"s been a year and a half now...


Nemirovich: Olga, we can"t afford to lose his favor...


Knipper: He can"t afford to lose us either!


Nemirovich: Try something extraordinary...


(Masha enters)


Masha (to Nemirovich): Good day! Vladimir Ivanovich, I"d like to ask you something.


Nemirovich: Go ahead.


Masha: Anton only planned to spend five days in Moscow. You kept him seven weeks and finally he has left for France...


Nemirovich: He himself decided to stay for the start of rehearsals.


Masha: Why couldn"t you have started rehearsals earlier?


Nemirovich: After Anton read the play to us there was a stunned silence. He wandered among us smiling and nervously coughing... Somebody said, "It"s not a play, no real characters... There"re few chances for dramatic action"... Anton decided to rewrite some parts while he was here....


Masha (to Nemirovich): He wrote you that the play was not ready. You hurried him by saying that you needed it for this season... Come soon! Without you I"m depressed! I can"t live with out you! It"s good weather in Moscow! ... (******Now it"s bone chilling cold...)******


Nemirovich (laughing): Dear Masha, I didn"t write this. It sounds like something Olga would write.


Knipper (defensive): I miss Anton. I waited for him all September. He didn"t come until the end of October...


Masha (peevish) Why do you always want him to come to Moscow? He catches cold here and starts to cough.


Knipper (now determined): In Yalta he lives alone... No one looks after him.


Masha (tensely): And who can care for him here? I teach all day ... and spend all night at art school*********


Knipper: I mean...


Masha (shouting): What are you thinking? You have rehearsals every day and performances or parties every evening.


Nemirovich: Masha, let me care for you a bit. Please sit on the couch. Would you like tea? Would you like gooseberry jam?


Masha (calms down and sits): Do I have to have gooseberry? I prefer raspberry...


Nemirovich: I guess I"m remembering Anton"s short story "Gooseberries"...


Masha: Anton writes from France. He is very worried; he is asking me how the "Three Sisters" rehearsals are going. He complains that no one writes him...


Nemirovich: Anton has added a lot to the play...


Knipper: I play one of the sisters -- Masha! I play her as morose and many sided, but she must not be gloomy, she can smile, sometimes recite poems... The turn in the play is when Masha says "Tram-tam-tam?" ...


Nemirovich: Tam-tam...


Knipper: Tra-ra-ra?


Nemirovich: Tra-ta-ta!


Masha: Tram-tam? Sorry...


Nemirovich: Masha saying "Tram-tam-tam" means "love"!


Masha: Love between whom?


Knipper: My heroine Masha indicates to Vershinin, the hero of the play, that she loves him.


Masha: Why not just say, "I love you!" It"s clearer to the audience.


Nemirovich (glancing to Olga with a slight smile. Masha sees the exchange.): "Tram-tam-tam is more fascinating. The audience already knows that Masha is married and Vershinin is married too. So they can"t be straightforward.


Masha: A dark play then!


Nemirovich: In the play we see real lives... Masha, come to our premier... It"s sure to be a success!

(Pause)


Have more tea... Oh, empty...I"ll get some more...


(Nemirovich hurries out with the teapot)


Masha (solicitously looking at Knipper) Olga, Vladimir is so pleasant...how attentive he is to me...you wouldn"t be angry if I play up to him?


Knipper: Not a bit! I would be happy...


(Knipper exit)


Masha (thoughtfully): Good! I"ll try. (To audience) For Anton"s sake...


(Masha exits)


Scene 13

(Flash back)


Chekhov traveling and Knipper in Moscow.


Knipper on the stage. Checkov enters walking briskly but looking haggard. He sits in a chair, and occasionally coughs.


Knipper: Are you still on the move? Today, my dear, we had a glorious rehearsal of "Three Sisters"...


Chekhov: Wonderful little actress mine, my angel, I"m in Nice... It"s warm, sunny, and bright everywhere. Life here is not like ours, it"s rich, healthy, young, smiling here. Russians are all squished down, as if they were ashamed of their idleness...


Knipper: I just got back from rehearsal, frozen and bad-tempered...


Chekhov. My dear Olya, don"t be lazy, write to this old man ...I have sent all acts of play to Moscow...


Knipper: The winter in Moscow is very cold... Temperature minus 27 Centigrade. I cried in the street, my eyes hurt, my cheeks were frozen, everything was frozen...


Chekhov: I bought a summer overcoat, and now I"m a dandy... I went to Monte-Carlo and won 295 franks...How much money Russians waste here in casinos... Write and tell me all about the rehearsals...


Knipper. Tomorrow we run all acts. I"m pleased with my part ... as Masha...


Checkov. Dear, clever girl of mine... How is "Three Sisters" going? Not one of those miserable bastards writes me about it. I suspect that my play is a flop already and I won"t be writing for the Art Theater again...


Knipper. Anton, darling, why the sad letter? You ask about the play? What nonsense to think of failure! The play is going fine... everything is going well...


Chekhov. Dearest, I"m writing from Florence... Has "Three Sisters" opened yet?


Knipper (aside to audience): "Three Sisters" finally opened on January 31 1901. I wired Anton: "Grand success embraces, mon bien aime. Olga." Unfortunately Chekhov didn"t receive it until many weeks later when he returned to Yalta...


(Pause)


Chekhov. My darling, I"ll leave Rome for Yalta... People who haven"t been to Italy have never lived. Not one letter from you about "Three Sisters"...


Knipper. Moscow talks only about "Three Sisters". I play Masha with such pleasure; this part has been of great use to me... I"ve understood what kind of actress I am. Thank you, Chekhov! Bravo!


(Pause)


Chekhov. My dearest, my wonderful pet... Now I"m in Yalta... Why are you angry with me? Why don"t you telegraph? Do you grudge the money for the telegrams? Send me a telegram spend the 25 rubles, and I"d pay it back... I promise to love you for 25 years. Your Monk.


(Pause)


Chekhov. The weather is wonderful in Yalta... I expect you for Holy week. I"m waiting. Write to me, your letters are like the song of a nightingale... This week I sent you five letters and three telegrams, but no word in reply... Your Monk.


(Chekhov exit)


Scene 14

(Flash back)


Knipper and Nemirovich in Moscow.


Nemirovich: The box office reports, a colossal success with "Three Sisters", but what is next? What are his plans now?


Knipper: Anton has invited me to Yalta...


Nemirovich: And?


Knipper: If we are not rehearsing, I"ll go for a week.


Nemirovich: You don"t have to go!


Knipper: I haven"t seen him for four months. I"m bored.


Nemirovich: Is he bored without you?


Knipper: He counts the days... and hours.


Nemirovich: Maybe you should refuse to go to Yalta... It might get some action out of him...


Knipper (joyful): And he'll marr...!


Nemirovich: You understand...


(Nemirovich exit)


Scene 15

(Flash back)


Chekhov in Yalta and Knipper in Moscow.


Knipper: Anton, I won"t be coming to Yalta at Easter! I"m sure you"ll understand why... it"s Impossible. You"re such a kind soul and so sensitive...


Chekhov. It doesn"t matter if you love someone else and already been unfaithful me, I"ll forgive you, just come; please... you hear me, doggie? If the theatre says you have to rehearse over Easter, tell Nemirovich that it*** is mean***********... Your Monk.


Knipper. Right now I can"t come...


Chekhov: If you are false to me, I understand that very well... I"m an old man, it"s impossible not to be false to me... Why don"t you want me to sign myself "Monk"? I"m living like an absolute monk...


Knipper: I don"t want to hide the truth once again from your mother and sister... To see their unhappy faces... I can"t bear it! How long are we going to go on hiding?


Chekhov: Well, Knipusha, I"ll come to Moscow! I look like your grandfather, not your husband...


Knipper. Darling, when you come to Moscow, we"ll get married and live together. Will you do that, Antosha my darling Don"t go making jokes as usual... no jokes! Your little actress.


Chekhov. Pet Olka! **If you promise me that not a soul in Moscow will know about our marriage until it is over, then I"ll marry you the day I arrive. If you agree, we"ll go down the Volga together...******


Knipper. Your Volga trip idea is excellent! - I"m terribly happy, delighted as a child.


Chekhov: I shall be in Moscow at the beginning of May. My cough drains my energy.... A big kiss for my doggie. Your Antoine.

(Pause)


Knipper (laughing). Imagine! That awful Vishnevski swears and vows that in a year or two, I will be his wife! He"s always joking like that... What"s this, darling about your writing another play for our theatre? That"s wonderful... Your doggie.


Chekhov. Vishnevski is not a bad fellow... Obviously he"s reckoning on your soon being a widow, but tell him that I"m revengeful and that I am making a will in which I forbid you to remarry...


(Exit all)


END THE FIRST ACT


ACT II


Scene 1


Knipper after the honeymoon in her theater dressing room in Moscow.


(Masha enters)


Masha. And so, my dear Olechka, you captured my brother... I knew sooner or later you would become intimate friends, but the fact that you"re married has shaken me to my core... I don"t understand you... Anton is a sick man...


Knipper: Yes, we decided to go ahead in spite of all the problems... We both wanted it, and we both are very happy... Why does it make you so angry?


Masha: I"m angry, because you told me absolutely nothing about your wedding. I thought we were close friends...


Knipper. I gave Anton my word that no one would know about our marriage until it happened... Anton explained to you...


Masha. They"re just excuses. I don"t believe...


Knipper: Masha please, listen... In Moscow Anton had a thorough medical examination and the doctor found both lungs much worse. He advised Anton to travel immediately to a spa to take the mare"s milk cure...


Masha. I know, I know about this mare"s milk... He wrote me that traveling alone is boring, and to take Olga with him without marriage would be selfish and unpleasant...


Knipper. Correct, and so we were married...


Masha. But I wrote him, if a person loves you, there"s no sacrifice on her part...


Knipper. Did you advise him not to marry?


Masha. Of course I did... but he didn"t listen to me ...


Knipper. Our wedding was very odd... I didn"t know until the last day where and when it would be. There were only two witnesses in the church...


Masha. Why?


Knipper. Anton"s wish...(giggles). At the exact same time as the wedding he had Vishnevski invite all our friends to dinner in a little restaurant... They waited, and waited for us... (Laughs)... and we ... and we drove straight from the church to the railway station...


Masha. Why are you laughing?


Knipper. I image their faces...


Masha. Such a shocking business!


Knipper: It wasn"t right of course. He didn"t say a word about the party. I simply couldn"t challenge his desire right then... Genius has it"s privileges. He got cold feet... Anton was frightened to accept congratulations with a smile and a glass of Champaign in his hand...


Masha: I"m so afraid that my relation with you and Anton will change for the worse...


Knipper. But Anton promised you and your mother, that everything will remain as before...


Masha. Yes, he did. Anton explained to me that he will live in Yalta and you in Moscow.


Knipper. You see Mashechka... After our marriage Anton wrote his will. You"ll get the house in Yalta and all his money!


Masha (crying). I have had three marriage offers, but each time I refused, because... I sensed that Anton was against me getting married. ... Now I"m feeling lonelier than ever...I am nothing. I"m neither an artist nor teacher...


Knipper. Masha it"s only a church ceremony...


Masha. I love my brother even more than before... I"m afraid... Suppose you suddenly become like Natasha in "Three Sisters". If you do I"ll strangle you with my own hands... Yes, I"ll just strangle you...


Knipper (sadly): I"m afraid that you might never forgive me for marrying your brother...

(Masha exit)


Scene 2


Anna and Knipper.


Anna: After your marriage you were happy?


Knipper: No!.. I didn"t understand that my great problems would begin with my marriage...


Anna: What kind problems?


Knipper: Different. You see Masha was against our marriage, her mother too...


Anna: Why?


Knipper: They afraid that Anton would go to Moscow, where his health would quickly become worse...


Anna: I don"t understand your relations... Chekhov wasn"t jealous of you?


Knipper: Our relations were very strange... I didn"t understand Anton too... Nobody could understand us... He once said: "A wife is like the moon. You appreciate her more when you don"t have to see her every night."... Soon Anton wrote that he wanted a child.


Anna: Not happy, to have a child with Chekhov?


Knipper: Dearie! It"s not so easy to get pregnant with him living in Yalta and me in Moscow...


(Pause)


But... in spite of all the difficulties, I got pregnant!


Anna: How you became pregnant? You don"t have any children...


Knipper: Oh, it"s another story...


Anna: Please tell me... I"m very curious...


Knipper: It"s a long story too...


Anna: Please go on....


Scene 3

(Flash back)


Chekhov in Yalta and Knipper in Moscow.


Knipper: Dearest, darling traveler! You see what a good wife I am... I write to my master every day...


Chekhov: Today is three months since we married; I was a lucky man, thank you... Your Anton.


Knipper: Nemirovich began rehearsals of his play "In Dreams" and offered me the role of the main heroine...


Chekhov: It"s very dull without you; I might as well be shut up in a monastery...


Knipper: I so want to be with you, Anton! I"m terribly tired, my nerves in a bad way, I understand nothing about life... Where is real life?


Chekhov: My darling doggie! I have a terrible desire now that you to have a little half-German, a little boy. He would amuse you and make your life fuller... What do you say?


Knipper: Darling, I so want a little half-German too!


Chekhov: Although it"s disgrace to make a declaration of love at forty, I cannot retrain from telling you again, that I love you deeply and tenderly... Be well, merry, and happy.


Knipper: I curse myself for not giving up the theatre... Write to me often, tell me you love me; I can only live when I am loved...


Chekhov: You want to give up the stage? Do you really? No... Next winter I"ll come to Moscow - keep that in mind... Today I caught two mice... So no one can say I don"t do anything...


Knipper: I"m writing to you for the first time from our new apartment. It"s splendid here! There"s electricity in Masha"s room, the dining-room and your study... We shall live like lords! You needn"t go out... you can walk around the apartment... Today has been a difficult day - a rehearsal, a performance of "Seagull" and the move here...


Chekhov: Our new home, my joy! What if you were to decide to spend two or three days in Yalta on December?


Knipper: If they can do two performances without me, then I could get away to Yalta... I"ll talk to Nemirovich and I think he"ll arrange it...


Chekhov: You want to come for Christmas? That"s a wonderful idea, my clever darling, only ask Nemirovich to spend not less than three days in Yalta. Not less!


Knipper: Nemirovich is an absolute bag of nerves... We had a dreadful rehearsal of his play yesterday...


Chekhov: How is Nemirovich"s play? Do you like it?


Knipper. I"ve just gotten back from another "Seagull" performance. I would so like to talk seriously with you... You are unique... Anton, what if you tried to come here?


Chekhov: Darling girl there"s snow and rain outside here... My hands are cold, my study is dark and cold, it"s difficult to write, my fingers won"t work ...Are you thinking about coming to Yalta for Christmas, doggie? Are you? Nemirovich is an egoist...


Knipper: Darling, it"s dreadful that I can"t come even for couple of days ... It is a difficult time at the theatre... Antonio darling we"ll be happy, we won"t be sour. Will we?


Chekhov. Your letter depressed me yesterday... What a misfortune it is that you"re not coming... My doctors say that I can"t go to Moscow... But I can"t stay here... I can"t... I can"t... God be with you...


(Chekhov exit)


Scene 4

(Flash back)


(Knipper"s dressing room. Laughter and music is in the distance. A poster for the play "In Dreams" by Nemirovich is on the wall. Nemirovich enters with a bottle of champaign and two glasses. Giving a glass to Knipper they clink glasses and drink)


Nemirovich: Happy New Year...Olga.


Knipper: Happy New Year, Volodia. Here we can get a breather....


Nemirovich: Yes! A completely crazy party... they"re still sliding down that waxed board.


Knipper: I tried it once. Lucky I didn"t fall.


Nemirovich: Kachalov in pink tights pretending to box with every body! ... Crazy!


Knipper: Masha laughed hysterically. She loves our parties!


Nemirovich: I have to go back. I hear Shalapin singing gypsy songs. He is a fine singer...


Knipper: Wait! Didn"t you see? For my present they gave me a baby doll in diapers. I gave it to Vishnevsky to put safely on the table...


(Pause)


and he broke its" head off..

(Pause)


Now I have to write this to Anton. I"m worried how he will take it.


Nemirovich: He might demand that you leave the theater if you tell him so much.


Knipper: I have to tell him. What he doesn"t learn from me he will learn from Masha or Vishnevski.


(Pause)


Volodia...Anton was very interested to learn how your "In Dreams" played. I think he was really worried that it might be a huge success.


Nemirovich: He should have saved his energy. What did you tell him?


Knipper: I said it was middling ...


Nemirovich: "Middling" (Laughs) that"s putting it mildly. I"m afraid our theater lost a lot of money on my play.


Knipper: A lot! Oh! I hope we are not ruined. What are we going to do?


Nemirovich: We"ll put on more Chekhov. He fills the theater.


Knipper: If we put on more Chekhov I can"t get away to Yalta even two days!


Nemirovich: If you have to get away... you know...Stanislavski can"t wait for his wife to play Elena in "Uncle Vania"...


Knipper (very upset): I might loose Elena"s role! Understand me... I will never take this risk. You"re saying.... That I can"t go to Anton!


(Pause)


Anton wrote me that if I ever need money I should get it from you... How much money does the theater owe him?


Nemirovich: I don"t know. I"ll find out how many times we did his plays this year.


Knipper: Volodia, right now I laugh and dance. Soon I"ll go home and become sad and depressed....


Nemirovich: Why?


Knipper: My conscience is bad. Anton sits alone with just one servant in that big cold house while I party the night away. Often I think of quitting and just running to him.


Nemirovich: No! Remember! Our whole group needs you in order to survive.


(Nemirovich exit)


Scene 5

(Flash back)


Chekhov in Yalta and Knipper in Moscow.


(Chekhov enters looking well but he sits in a chair)


Chekhov: Hello, little actress! You write that you were high... Oh, sweetheart, how I envy you if only you knew! I envy your vigor, your health... I envy that you can drink without thinking of spitting blood...


Knipper: You are an Angel! Anton, you won"t ever blame me for coming into your life, will you? I"m afraid you"re falling out of love with me...


Chekhov. Never, while I"m your husband, will I take you away from the theater, on the contrary, I"m delighted that you have work that you are not aimlessly lounging around... You know how I hate laziness... If you"re living in Moscow it"s just because we both want it...


(Pause)


Chekhov: You"re coming for two days? Is that all? If we"ve held out this long, we can hold out till Lent... Coming for two days, that"s cruel... Two days - this is Nemirovich"s favor... Thanks very much ... Two days will just exhaust you with the journey, and saying goodbye... No!


Knipper. Darling, I leave Moscow on Friday... Nemirovich let me go for five days...

(Pause)


Knipper: My dear, I don"t know what to do about it... I"ve finally summoned up courage to write to you...Call me all the names you like...


(Pause)


Knipper: I have debts... Will you be angry with me? I am ashamed to tell you the amount... I owe 7000 rubles. - Is that very terrible? You have 8000 rubles from the theater... If you can help me, send me a telegram with just one word: "yes"; or, if you can"t, "no"... If only you knew how hard it is to write this...I"m ashamed...


Chekhov. Take as much as you want. Expecting you.


Knipper. Coming by road. Olya.


Chekhov (aside to audience): Olga and I hadn"t seen each other for about four months... She was in Yalta for a week... We had complete solitude...

(Pause)


But how could she have come in winter during the major theater season?


(Pause)


Chekhov (to Knipper): Farewell, my heart! I am in very good form... We shall be together and none of those miserable hounds will tear us apart...


(Pause)


Knipper (to audience): On the train ride back I had a pain in my stomach... Then for a month I continued to act untill I collapsed in agony during "Uncle Vania"... They took me to the clinic, and at midnight gave me chloroform and doctor Jakobson operated on me...

(Pause)


Chekhov: ... We shall be together... and no one...


(Pause)

No letter from you today...


(Pause)

Chekhov: Why don"t you write me?


Knipper: Darling heart, I haven"t written some days...I"m in a clinic now... I left Yalta hoping to present you with a little half-German... Doctor Jakobson operated on me... He said that I had an embryo of about, may be... six weeks... You can imagine how upset I was... Your failure of a doggie.


Chekhov: Clinic?! Operation!


Knipper: Darling... I"m still in bed... I"m having a very bad time...


Chekhov: Wire details!


Knipper: I have been having acute pains in my left side... They say it"s inflammation of the ovary, and that this was the cause of the miscarriage...


Chekhov: Why don"t you wire?


Knipper: Doctors visit me every day... an actor from our theater joked: "Our leading actress is in disgrace. To have a child by such great man, and then lose it... such carelessness"... I can"t laugh; I"ve done a lot of crying...


(Pause)


Knipper: Health improving...Don"t worry, there"s no danger... Anton, why are you silent?


(Pause)

Knipper: Less pain in my left side... Stanislavsky takes care of me as though I were his daughter... I"ve decided to come to Yalta soon. The doctor has advised to have a midwife with me... Will you be a dear and ask Masha to prepare my room?


(Pause)

(Knipper exit)


Chekhov (to audience): Olga was carried off the boat and taken straight to bed. Masha and I became Olga"s doctor and nurse...

(Pause)


I wrote to doctor Jakobson and received a telegram in reply: "No suspicions. Remains of an embryo removed from fallopian tube".

(Pause)


...I knew that an embryo forming in a fallopian tube erupts between eight and twelve weeks from conception...


Scene 6

(Flash back)


Chekhov in Yalta and Knipper in Moscow.


(Knipper enters)


Knipper (to audience): I stayed in Yalta only six weeks... Yalta became my prison too... Masha and Anton"s mother, Evgenia, could not forgive me for losing the child... I became depressed... I wasn"t fully recovered... In the middle of May Anton and I left for Moscow... Stanislavski invited us to his lovely dacha "Cozy Nook" near Moscow. We were very happy there, but in the middle of August Anton suddenly decided to leave me, to return to Evgenia and Masha in Yalta...


(Chekhov enters. He looks haggard)


Knipper: Anton, I just don"t understand. It"s still warm and delightful here.


Chekhov: I"ve explained all...


Knipper: I can see you are upset. I understand your business troubles with editors, but why do you have to go back to Yalta?


Chekhov: I have to help Evgenia and Masha. Masha writes that the weather is so dry that it takes her all day, everyday..... To water the gardens. You know how we enjoy the roses.


Knipper: I wanted us to enjoy the Fall here together. How peaceful our life is here! I love to see you fishing or relaxing on the garden bench... And now suddenly you decide to go back to Yalta... Why are you leaving?


Chekhov: We"ve been together five whole months... When you were sick I cared for you. But now you are better and I can leave you for a short time...I"ll be back soon...


Knipper: She didn"t invite me...


Chekhov: What do you mean?


Knipper: Masha doesn"t want to see me in Yalta... I feel that you won"t return! So we separate!


Chekhov (slowly and quietly): I"ve told you clearly that I"ll return in September and stay with you until December.


Knipper: Dear God if I only knew that you needed me.. that I could make you happy. It is so painful that you treat me like a doll... My life is so separate from yours... tell me I"m wrong...


Chekhov: Dearest, you are my wife... you are the person nearest and dearest to me. Don"t be hysterical, calm down. I love you. I love you only.


Knipper: You can be with me for hours and not say a word.


Chekhov: Olga, don"t be angry...


Knipper: You are the only man in the world for me... I can talk to you about what is in my heart...but you don"t want to listen to me...You"re always so serene...


Chekhov: Don"t be angry with me. Dear Olga, don"t be angry, dearest...


Knipper (crying): I"m not angry ... I"m just trying to explain to you why I"m so upset... And you don"t even try to understand...


(Pause)


You"ve come to hate me. But I can"t keep silent... Yes! I"m a silly woman! You"re smiling...


(Pause)


Fine! You will laugh at me in Yalta... All right! ... Here is a letter for Masha... please, give it to her when you arrive in Yalta.


(Chekhov exit)


Scene 7

(Flash back)


. Knipper and Masha in Moscow.


(Masha enters)


Knipper: Masha we have to talk!


Masha: We have been through everything...


Knipper: No! Not everything! There is something I want to know.


Masha: Oh?


Knipper: Why did you show Anton my letter? ... I wrote it to you!


Masha: I didn"t give him the letter, Anton happened to find it in his mother"s room...


Knipper: You expect me to believe that?


Masha: Your letter was so mean ... unfair. You called me and my mother "cruel!", just because we wanted to see Anton. He"s my brother...


Knipper: You asked him to Yalta without me... so you could see him alone...


Masha: Anton left Stanislavski"s dacha because he started coughing... coughing badly...He had two separated bouts of hemoraging blood...


Knipper (absolutely shocked): He... He never... He never told me!


Masha: He was too proud. He didn"t want to worry you...


Knipper (crying): I"m his wife, but I still live separate and alone... If I only believed that he needed me... It"s horrible! ... He has a closer relationship with you than with me!


Masha: What am I to do -- I can"t rub myself off the face of the earth... Your letter deeply insulted me, and my brother... protected me...


Knipper (crying): Protected you from me? I"m not a wild animal, and you are not easily offended. You are stronger than I am... I shout and get roiled up...


Masha (crying): I just want my brother to be happy...


Knipper: And you think it"s me, who makes him unhappy! You think it is my fault; I had a miscarriage, because I"m dissolute...


(Enter Nemirovich dressed in tuxedo and formal hat, smelling of cigarette smoke and expensive cologne)


Nemirovich: Good evening! What"s going on? Everybody in tears! Olga you are not dressed! We have a patron"s concert today.


Olga: I completely forgot. I will...


(Masha quickly strides angrily out of the room)


Nemirovich: An argument?


Knipper: We had a very private conversation... If Masha writes Anton about this quarrel, he would be very upset... Volodia, I want Masha to go with us... You"re not against it, are you?


Nemirovich: Of course not.


Knipper: Please invite her to the concert... I beg you...


Nemirovich: I"ll catch up with her... And you, ... please, hurry...


(Nemirovich quickly exit)


Scene 8

(Flash back)


Chekhov in Yalta and Knipper in Moscow.


(Chekhov enters)


Knipper (joyful): Anton, to day I went to the doctor and he couldn"t believe it. He examined me and said that I can lead a normal life and do what I like...


Chekhov. Olga, you"ll definitely have children, as the doctors say... All you lack is a husband living with you all year round... I"ll find a way to be at your side for a whole year; you"ll have a boy or a girl...


Knipper: The doctor said I was a wonderfully healthy woman...


Chekhov: I hug you, then grab you, turn you around several times and throw you to the ceiling before catching you and kissing you...


Knipper. I couldn"t get to sleep last night... I"m ashamed to call myself your wife. You are alone, sad, and forlorn...


Chekhov: Think; if you spent the whole of the winter in Yalta your life would be ruined... I knew I was marrying an actress, I knew perfectly well ... that you would spend your winters in Moscow...


Chekhov: I"m working at the moment; I have started to write "Cherry Orchard"... What have you decided about Switzerland?


Knipper. So we"re going to Switzerland? I"m delighted my dear! We"ll live in the mountains, in the pure air...


Chekhov. When we go to Switzerland, I"ll take nothing with me. Just an empty suitcase and my wife... I"ll drink beer there...


Knipper. Since I"m married, I ought to forget my own life and just be a wife... Forgive me, darling, I feel awful...


Chekhov. Don"t talk nonsense... We are a perfectly respectable husband and wife; we don"t stop doing what we must... I"ll come to Moscow in April and I"ll try to finish the play...


(Chekhov exit)


Scene 9

(Flash back)


Knipper and Nemirovich


Nemirovich: Olga, you spent the whole summer shielding him from all his summer guests, but you came from Yalta without the play...


Knipper: The play gave him many problems and his energy is failing... Time and time again he wanted to shelve the play and go Switzerland.


Nemirovich: When the play is done he can go to Switzerland or any other country as long as he likes...


Knipper: He is often very tired... and feels worse...


Nemirovich: Olga, we need to cheer him up and give him more encouragement...


Knipper: Yes?


Nemirovich: Write him something. Something like "You are our Russian Maupassant"... We need every sentence you write... We are waiting for your play like "manna from heaven"... and so on...


Knipper: All right. ... I"ll write him... only....


Nemirovich: Now what?


Knipper: Anton wants to come to the rehearsals...


Nemirovich: Humor him! Tell him we want him. He"s the author.


Knipper: Volodia! Let"s have the opening on his 44th birthday, January 17th and to celebrate his twenty five years as an author, and his birthday all at the same time...


Nemirovich: I"ll talk to Stanislavski about it this afternoon...


Knipper: Everything will have to be very secret. Anton doesn"t like celebrations.


***Nemirovich: Good! First the play has to be sent to us; second we"ll get some quick rehearsals and third hope the weather will not be too bad on him.... Hell... We don"t have much time...***


(Nemirovich exit.)


Scene 10

(Flash back)


Chekhov in Yalta and Knipper in Moscow.


(Chekhov enters)


Knipper; My darling, We all are waiting for your play like "manna from heaven" you are our Russian Maupassant..


Chekhov: Writing the play was so difficult...


Knipper: If you don"t send the play to me first, I"ll divorce with you...


Chekhov. To tomorrow I"ll send it to you... Remember, I must be in Moscow during rehearsals... What a torture it is to cut the nails on your right hand!


Knipper: When the "The Cherry Orchard" arrived I rushed round to the theatre and Nemirovich began reading it.


Chekhov: Stanislavski telegrammed: "I love every word, every stage direction, and every comma. I wept loudly during reading the play"...


Chekhov: Why did he weep? It"s not a tragedy, it"s a comedy... You now will play Ranevskaya... Ranevskaya will not be hard to play because she is like you... Olga, why don"t you wire me about my coming? I must come to Moscow...


Knipper. You know the doctors don"t like you to live in the Moscow winter... I bought a warm fur coat for you...


Chekhov. Why don"t you change apartments? It will be difficult for me to get up to the 3td floor, especially in a heavy coat...

I feel like my "Three Sisters". They couldn"t wait to get out of the boring province and to the big city "to Moscow, to Moscow"


Knipper. The apartment contract runs to March ...


Chekhov. You should bluntly tell me the reason... Is there some reluctance to ask me to come to Moscow? They don"t want me to come? I want to see my wife... Do I have wife?


Knipper. Cold here, talk with the doctor and come soon. Kisses.


Chekhov. Coming 2 December...


Knipper. Don"t leave train. Dress up warmly...


Scene 11

(Flash back)


Knipper , Nemirovich and Masha in Moscow.


Knipper"s dressing room after the premier performance of "The Cherry Orchard". Olga and Nemirovich rush in...


Knipper: Uff... tired...


Nemirovich (hugs Olga): Glorious! Fantastic!


(Olga flops onto the sofa)


Knipper: Excellent...When Anton went up on stage there was a silence then a frenzy of applause. "The Cherry Orchard" is the first successful play premier he has ever attended...


Nemirovich: Luckily he stayed... We had a whole room full of wreathes and flowers...


Knipper: Volodia, your speech! "Anton... added to our lives. .. Anton... added light to our days..."


Nemirovich (laughs): As I left the stage I heard somebody start with the words "Dear esteemed..."


Knipper (happily): Yes, yes you didn"t hear the rest... Anton loudly broke in with the words from his play "The Cupboard"..."Dear esteemed cupboard..." I was afraid we couldn"t get through it, thank God. Cutting rehearsal time was risky.


Nemirovich: With Anton there practically every day... remember he didn"t agree with anything... not even the sound affects... the train whistle, sound of croaking frogs! He was worried that you couldn"t play a woman over twenty years older than you are...


Knipper: What do you think about my Ranevskaya?


Nemirovich Excellent! I can"t imagine anybody else but you as Ranevskaya...


Knipper: Anton never has worried about a play as much as this one. He believed that it was a comedy...


(Masha runs in)


Masha: Where"s Anton?


Knipper: He"s in somebody"s dressing room.


Masha: Whose?


Knipper: Do you need him?


Masha: I want to take him home.


Knipper: There is a party planned. Anton will go with us. You too!


Nemirovich: Masha, just think how lucky we are that everything has gone so well. We could perform this play any time but to have the premier, celebrate his twenty five years as an author, and his birthday all at the same time... it"s so exciting!


Masha (angry): You know very well Anton doesn"t like such celebrations...


Knipper: Finally ... the first in his life... I think he was pleased...


Masha: I"m afraid it will be his last!


Nemirovich: Masha, why are you in such a bad mood?


Masha: You saw... Anton could barely stand on stage... You forgot to give him a chair... Finally some one shouted "Give the author a chair!" It was terrible seeing my brother standing on stage so sick... so white, so thin... I was afraid he wouldn"t make it thru all the speeches, flowers, idolizations with out falling or fainting...


Nemirovich: Masha, you know Anton was at his best thinking about the play even though it was December. He went to rehearsals every day...


Masha (to Olga): He wanted to come earlier. You kept him in Yalta until it started to snow in Moscow!


Knipper: It was his doctor"s decision... Masha, Anton felt much better in Moscow...


Masha (crying): Just think Anton is only forty four ... He has accomplished so much... And he... This honoring seems more like a farewell than a birthday... I can"t help but cry... You are ....you are..an ingenuous ******person!


Nemirovich: Masha, such an expression! You aren"t right...


Masha: Now Anton"s health is worse, and she says "he felt better" She is....single minded !******


(Nemirovich and Masha exit)


Scene 12


Anna and Knipper.


Anna (with indignation): Masha is right! You loved theater life more than you loved your famous husband...


(Anna upset throws off "Ranevckaia"s" coat, and starts to collect her belongings)


Knipper: Anna, what"s the matter?


Anna: Why didn"t you tell Anton the truth about your pregnancy?


Knipper: I didn"t want to upset him? Eight weeks earlier I had been in Moscow, not Yalta.


Anna: Ah! Your quick trip to Yalta during the height of the theater season!


Knipper: Both Anton and I wanted a child...


Anna (accusingly): How could you? ...Chekhov a great writer!


Knipper: I"m a great actress!


Anna: I"d better go... I have to talk with Vadim...


Knipper: The lesson is not over!


Anna: Vadim knows that I went to the doctor... I have to speak with him...


Knipper: You"ll have enough time to speak with Vadim... Sit down...Listen! Anna, your idealism and naivety are out of place... You should know life deals a heavy hand, especially to an actress. (Gradually becoming inspired). Look at my spine.


Anna: Straight...


Knipper: Exactly. I"m 85 years old. I"ve survived two revolutions, two world wars, a civil war, and Stalin"s terror...


(Pause)


If you are serious about being an actress, be ready to sacrifice your private life...

(Pause)


Anna: Did you really want children?


Knipper: We didn"t have time... He was only 44 when he died.


(Pause)


Anna: You are advising me?


Knipper: I didn"t finish my story... Sit down...

(Anna sits)


Listen to me... It was an uncertain time during our playing"Three Sisters" and "Cherry Orchard"...strikes, the Tsar had secret police ......he was killing many people, also times were leading up to the war with Japan in 1904 and workers strikes. Poor people didn"t have enough to eat but the rich were still rich .... they were standing in long lines, some times the whole night, to see Chekhov"s plays. It was a heady time for us, as our theater was growing in stature. We actors were caught up in success and gave the future little thought.


Anna:Did Chekhov think about the theater and future?


Knipper: Chekhov wrote to Nemirovich: "The Art Theater will the best part of the book, which will be written about present day theater. This theater does you proud, only this theater I love"...


(Пауза)

With Stalin dying just last year, you have change and an uncertain future ahead of you. This is a good time for you to think about your future. I was too caught up in the excitement.....hard work and.... success.


Scene 13

(Flash back)


Chekhov in Yalta and Knipper in Moscow.


(Chekhov enters slowly)


Chekhov: Dear horseykin, I"m in Yalta... I"m dissatisfied (not happy?)******with the interpretation of "The Cherry Orchard"... Stanislavski has ruined my play... I hear one of the actresses has become pregnant and has been replaced... too bad the same thing couldn"t happen to some of the male performers...


(Pause)


Chekhov: My bed is hard, cold without you; the rooms are cold, zero outside... I can"t continue living without you... I"m less than nothing. I scratch your little shoulder, your little back, your little neck and I kiss my little heart... I have forgotten how to undress myself at night and dress myself in the morning... I"ll go to the bath in May when I come to Moscow... I"ll plant corn on my body - at least I"ll make some money... Your less than nothing... Anton


(Pause)


Chekhov. Hallo, darling horseykins! I had two telegrams from Nemirovich about the success you all had in Petersburg and how the audience treated you like a first class actress... I"ve known for a long time that you are a great .... a genuine artist! I value you highly... I love you as before... Soon you will see your husband...


Scene 14

(Flash back)


Chekhov and Knipper together in Germany.


Knipper (to audience): At the end of April Anton came to Moscow. He fell ill and had to stay in bed about three weeks...In May Masha left for Yalta... She was very reluctant to do so, in view of her brother"s poor condition, but Anton insisted... Soon after doctor Taube, suggested that he should go to Badenweiler, a clinic for chest diseases in Germany...


(Chekhov enters, he looks very sick. He is writing)


Chekhov: Dear Masha, I"m in Badenweiler... I"m living among Germans... Olga went to the dentist in Basel... I seem to improve, I can walk - but I"m breathless... Our doctor Shworer is a kind person and a friend...


Knipper: What are you writing?


Chekhov: I wrote a letter to Masha... Now she doesn"t write me letters from Yalta... I"m worrying... Please, write her a letter too...


Knipper: You know we quarreled...


Chekhov: I know. Don"t be too concerned...You"re a wonderful, wife, brilliant, and talented!... You know how I love talented people...


Knipper: Masha likes to say that I took everything away from her - her home, her garden...


Chekhov: You took me, her brother, away from her...


(Pause)


I ask you: please write a letter to Masha... Olya, you are a better nurse than anybody could have imagined...


Knipper: Better than Masha?


Chekhov: Yes...


Knipper: What do you think, when will Masha and I ever have normal relations? ...


Chekhov: After my death...


Knipper: Enough!


Chekhov: So write a letter...


Knipper: If you insist...


Chekhov: I ask ...


Knipper (writing a letter): Masha, there is nothing dangerous... As soon as Anton feels a little better I"ll do everything and we"ll come home...

(Pause)


Chekhov: Olya, when we go home on the steamboat I"ll need a white flannel suit... I have here only winter suits...


Knipper: I can"t buy a decent suit in Badenweiler...


Chekhov: Go to Freyburg and order a good one...


Knipper: I can"t leave you alone for a whole day...


Chekhov: Don"t worry, darling, I"ll be alright...


Chekhov (writing a letter): Dear Masha, the weather turned hot. Olga went to Friyburg to order a flannel suit for me...


(Pause)


Knipper (writing a letter to Nemirovich): Dear Volodya, Anton feels badly... he has a temperature all the time, nights are agony. He can"t breathe or sleep... Yesterday he was so out of breath that I didn"t know what to do, I ran for the doctor... the doctor gave him oxygen, injected camphor... At night I injected morphine twice and he went to sleep...


(Pause)


Chekhov: Olya, open the door to the balcony...


Chekhov: Turn the electric light off...


Knipper: I"ll light a candle...I"m reading a book...


Chekhov: What are you reading?


Knipper: "A Strange Story".


Chekhov: Silly thing, don"t you know wives never take their husbands books with them on holiday?


Knipper: Anton, I"ll put ice on your heart...


Chekhov: An empty heart needs no ice...


(Chekhov dozes)


Knipper: Anton, it was dreadful night... I"m waiting for doctor Schworer... Anton, are you better now?


Chekhov: Dear, I would like to sit near the window... Help me... Then go swim in the pool or walk in the park...


(Pause, later)


Knipper: Anton, I"m sorry, we missed the gong for dinner...


Chekhov: If you are hungry ring for the attendant, she"ll bring something to eat...


Knipper: You are smiling...


Chekhov: I made up a story...


Knipper: Tell me the story...


Chekhov: Imagine an expensive spa...


Knipper: Yes..


Chekhov: A group of overweight rich English and Americans are tired out after an exhausting day. They are hungry and greedily looking forward to a dinner... When - horror of horrors - it turns out that the chef has disappeared... Imagine the reaction of all those people...


Knipper: (Laughs).


Chekhov: I"m getting better already... I"m not so short of breath today...


(Chekhov doses)


Knipper (to Anna): Anton soon dropped off quietly to sleep... About one o"clock he woke up...


Chekhov (awakes): Call the doctor, please... the pain...


(Then doses off)


Knipper (to Anna): The first time in his life Anton had asked for a doctor... I woke up the student who lives in our corridor and asked him to go for the doctor... Doctor Schworer came and gently, caringly started to say something, cradling Anton in his arms... Anton sat up unusually straight and said loudly and clearly...


Chekhov: Ich sterbe... I"m dying...


(Doses off)


Knipper (to audience): The doctor gave him an injection of camphor, but it had no effect... Then the doctor ordered champagne... Anton took a full glass, smiled at me and said...


Chekhov: It"s a long time since I drank champagne...


(Turns and doses off)


Knipper (to audience): He drained the glass in one go, then turned on his left side and fell asleep... The doctor continued to hold Chekhov"s hand... Then he said something to the student... I paid no attention to their whispers... The student came over to me and said: "Olga Leonardovna, the doctor says that Anton Pavlovich is dead"... I threw myself upon the doctor and began to shake him with all my strength... "Doctor it"s not true, it"s not true!"...


Scene 15


Anna and Knipper


Anna: Olga Leonardovna you were lucky to have taken part in the creation of a legendary Russian theater. **** toady Anna!***


Knipper: Anna, somebody must continue our work. You are my best student, talented, serious...I visualize...

Анна: After so much success, aren"t you lonely now?


Knipper (sadly): The theater we founded gives me absolutely no pleasure now... Our glory and camaraderie has long ago passed...


Anna: I don"t want to be lonely in my old age... I came here today thinking about whether I"d have an abortion or not... Now I have decided...


Knipper: Yes?


Anna: I want to be not only an actress...

Knipper: The defining question:.... Is art truly for you so important that it permeates your whole soul? Do you dream of being the best in the world?l

Anna: I want a real life... I"ll do it my way...


Knipper: So be it!


Anna: Thank you!


Knipper: Consider this is my "Master Class"... My last "Master Class".


Anna: Goodbye, Olga Leonardovna!


Knipper: Farewell, Anna. Good luck!


(Anna leaves. KNIPPER looks at and then grabs Ranevckaia"s coat. She puts it on. Then sitting back in the armchair she covers her face with her hands)


(Pause)


Once when I asked Antona:" What is life?" He answered: "That is like asking: what is a carrot? A carrot is a carrot and nothing more"... It was strange, but the idea that he could soon die never came in my mind...

(Pause)

And what is death? Anton, what is death?


... I looked at the rising sun, and then at Anton"s beautiful face, his expression was calm now and seemed to be smiling as if he just understood something that still remains an unfathomable mystery to me...(Pause)


Anton for fifty years I"ve played your wonderful women... and made you and our theater immortal...


Curtain