Fort Lewis College’s theatre department had preview night Thursday evening for their new production, “A Chekhovian Sonata: Love in 3 Movements.” Performances begin this weekend, which include two short plays, and an adapted short story written by Anton Chekhov.   

 

“This is a great opportunity for people to see some of the works of the person who a lot of people frankly consider the modern equivalent of Shakespeare,” said Evan West, FLC senior and scenic designer for the production.

 

Chekhov was a late 1800s physician and playwright of Russian descent.

 

This comparison comes from the content of his writings, the way in which he presented everyday life in late tsarist Russia and the effect it had on theatre at the time, West said.

 

Another aspect of his plays was the level of realism and eschewing of the overly dramatic, he said.

 

“Chekhov is kind of a little departure from what people sort-of expect,” he said.

 

Acting it Out

 

“The Bear” and “The Proposal” are both Chekhov creations and will be performed in classic 1800s style, with costumes out of the 1890s.

 

Cheryl McFarren directed these two short stories: “The Bear” and “The Proposal.” McFarren is a guest director from Dennison University in Ohio.

 

Dennis Elkins, theater department chair, directed “The Bride,” a short story written by Chekhov, Chloe Speshock, a theatre major, said. “What we did was took it and adapted it into a play and made it modern.”

 

Speshock is an actor in two of the three one-act plays, she will feature in “The Bear” and “The Bride.”

 

“Chekhov stands out as kind of revitalizing theatre when it was in a slump,” West said.

 

“I’ve never had Dennis as a director before, just as a professor in classes. But I can tell he’s done adaptation of stories into plays,” Speshock said. “He’s been awesome at coaching us into creating characters and learning to improv scenes.”

 

In comparison to other performances during her career with the FLC theatre department, the short stories have been a lot more personal, Speshock said. “I know everyone in the cast really well and I’ve just enjoyed working with them a lot.”  

 

The directors were able to give more personal attention to you as an actor and help you get through those bumps of sorting out your character, she said.

 

Kenneth Breece and James Rollins are taking this play on as their senior seminar project.

 

In The Round

 

In addition to the materials that are being presented, the setting itself will offer an innovative aspect compared to what many expect from theatrical productions.

 

“It’s in the smaller of our two spaces in the theatre department set with ‘in-the-round seating,’ which is something you don’t see all the time,” West said.

 

In-the-round seating is the term used for stages that have seats set on all sides, instead of the more traditional setting made popular by Broadway, West said.

 

It is always good to have people come and support local, innovative arts, Speshock said.

 

This creates unique challenges not only for the actors, who cannot simply face the crowd from one direction, but all facets of the production, including the scenic production crew.

 

To counteract these challenges many of the scenic elements are more abstract and representational in nature, so as not to obstruct the view of the actors, West said.

 

“A lot of the time you get real strong verisimilitude, or replication of reality in sets, and that’s not always the way it has to be,” he said.

 

Attendance Information

 

Opening night is this Friday, Feb. 13, at 7:30 p.m. In addition to opening night, the play will be performed Feb. 14,19, 20, and 21 at 7:30 p.m., and a matinee will be shown Feb. 15 at 3:00 p.m.

Tickets are free to students, $12 to community members, and $10 for seniors along with FLC faculty and staff.