The “Ivanov“ Season

In 2007, in conjunction with the 120th anniversary of the premiere of Anton Chekhov's “Ivanov“ on the stage of the Korsh Theatre, the Theatre of Nations presented the “Ivanov” Season festival on the stage of the former Korsh Theatre.
„Ivanov” was the first of Chekhov's plays ever to be produced. The premiere took place November 19, 1887 on the stage of the Korsh Theatre in the very building where the Theatre of Nations today is located. The Theatre of Nations dedicated its own 20th anniversary season to this major event in the history of Russian theatre. Audiences had the opportunity to see several different productions of “Ivanov” over the course of the entire 2007-2008 season, including productions by St. Petersburg's Takoi Theatre (December 18 and 19, 2007); St. Petersburg's Small Drama Theatre (January 19, 2008); the Tula Puppet Theatre (February 16, 2008); and the Jozsef Katona Theatre of Budapest (June 14 and 15, 2008).
Anton Chekhov brought his play to Korsh at the beginning of October 1887. According to the young author's own comments, he wrote it with “amazing ease.“ „I wrote it as if by accident,” he declared, «after a conversation with Korsh. I went to bed, came up with a story and then I wrote it. It took me two weeks — or, to be exact, ten days — to write. In one two-week period there were that many days when I was not writing or working on something else.»
The theatre was impressed with the play. “Everyone likes it,“ Chekhov wrote to his brother. “Korsh didn't find a single error or sin against the laws of the stage.” The actor Vladimir Davydov, whom Chekhov hoped would perform the title role, was also delighted with the play, pleasing Chekhov even more. The house was packed for the premiere. Mikhail Chekhov, the author's brother, left an account of that first night: „Some expected'Ivanov' to be a raucous farce in the manner of the popular humorous stories Chekhov was publishing then in Splinters magazine,” he wrote. «Others expected something more serious of the author — and they were right. The play was not received with unanimous acclaim. Some spectators hissed and booed. Many more mounted a stormy ovation and called the author out for a bow. But, basically, nobody understood'Ivanov.' I remember the scene at the Korsh Theatre. It was amazing. Spectators leaped up from their seats, some applauding, some whistling and booing, others stamping their feet. The seats in the orchestra pit were pushed out of their rows and they all stood in one big pile. People sitting in the loges were alarmed, but they didn't know whether to keep sitting or to leave. As for the balconies, you can't imagine what was going on up there. There were wars between the factions that were booing and applauding.»