Chekhov as trendy as ever

 The festival was born a year ago, when Russia was marking 150 years since the birth of great writer Anton Chekhov. The last year’s festival was a competition between theater producers of several generations, each of whom offered his own interpretation of a play by Chekhov. This year, the concept of the festival is slightly different - a sort of a “duel” between dramatists who offer their own plays, each of which has a certain connection with Chekhov’s ideas or his perception of the world.

One of the festival’s organizers, dramatist Mikhail Uvarov believes that many people today strikingly resemble Chekhov’s characters:

“Actually, most Chekhov’s characters are people who, after living in their dreams, once come to realize the prose of life. In the “Cherry Orchard”, a middle-aged woman who is surviving only by her memories suddenly realizes that her time has passed. In the “Three Sisters”, the residents of a small town suddenly realize that after a regiment that had been quartered in their town left it, their life became empty. Today, many people don’t find themselves in life, just like Chekhov’s characters.”

In fact, the main message of the “Duel” festival, as its organizers confess, is to make the modern man think about his destiny and the essence of life.