Only Human: Anton Chekhov

The 19th-century Russian writer Anton Chekhov is as beloved today as he was in his own time. He is perhaps best known for plays such as Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard, but he was also a prolific writer of short stories, a number of them comic.

There’s an annual celebration of his birthday in New York City, and we partnered with the 8th such event, sponsored by with Columbia University’s Harriman Institute, and hosted by Chekhov scholar Laura Strausfeld, founder of the event, who is a Visiting Scholar at Columbia. Strausfeld is a writer, director, producer, The Real Vanya, Strausfeld’s mockumentary adaptation of “Uncle Vanya,” was produced by the Harriman Institute as a staged reading at the Classic Stage Company in 2014. Her play “Monica and Linda,” about Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp’s friendship, will be produced in NYC this spring. She is currently working on a book entitled “How to Be Less Miserable: Insights from Anton Chekhov.”

On this program, hosted by Jane Curtin, we’ll hear some of the performances from this Chekhovian birthday celebration.

“A Drama” –which appeared under Chekhov’s frequent byline Antosha Chekhonte —is every celebrity author’s worst nightmare: a relentless fan who has written a little something herself. It starts small, but escalates into a surreal melodrama. And it’s read by a celebrity in her own right, Cynthia Nixon.

Nixon made her film debut in Little Darlings at 12 years old and her Broadway debut at 14 in The Philadelphia Story. Since then she’s appeared in more than 40 plays, scores of films and television shows, and received 2 Emmys, 2 Tonys, and a Grammy Award, though she is best known for her role as Miranda on HBO’s Sex and the City. Nixon and Laura Linney alternated the roles of Regina and Birdie in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes on Broadway (and Nixon won her 2nd Tony.) She also appeared on a slew of "best actress of 2018" lists for her portrayal of American poet Emily Dickinson in Terrence Davies' much lauded film A Quiet Passion.

Our second work is “Rapture,” in which a young clerk has way too much fun with his fifteen minutes of fame, bursting in on his astonished family late at night to share the good news that he’s become notorious. “Rapture” is performed by Robin Miles, Sam Underwood, Rainn Wilson, and Di Zhu.

Robin Miles’ theater work includes Richard Greenberg’s “The Violet Hour” and Jonathan Larsen's “J.P. Morgan Saves the Nation” on Broadway, and many other productions. Her television credits include “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “New York Undercover,” and National Geographic's “Tales from the Wild.” She has narrated nearly 400 audiobooks, earned Audie and Best of the Year awards for both narrating and directing, is an AudioFile magazine's featured narrator and an Audible Hall of Famer. Miles is the director of the recent recording of Alex Haley’s “Root”s and narrator of many works of Edwidge Danticat.

Sam Underwood is the founder and artistic director of New York’s Fundamental Theater Project, with which he produced and starred in “One Day When We Were Young” by Nick Payne with Valorie Curry at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. His New York theatre credits include “Candida” “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and “Equus.” Underwood’s television credits include recurring roles on “Dexter,” and “Homeland.” He’s also appeared on “The Following,” “Power” and “Fear the Walking Dead.” Underwood is Creative Director of Initiative Productions, with which he has produced and starred in the short film “Ophelia” and his one-man show, “Losing Days.”

Rainn Wilson is best known for playing the role of Dwight Schrute on “The Office.” A member of The Acting Company, Wilson earned an MFA from NYU’s graduate acting program and subsequently spent ten years performing in regional theater, tours, off- and on Broadway. His film and television credits include “Galaxy Quest,” “Almost Famous,” “The Rocker,” “Super,” “Six Feet Under,” “Juno,” “Backstorm”, “Star Trek: Discovery,” the filmed adaptation of Will Eno's “Thom Pain (based on nothing),” and “The Meg.”

Di Zhu is an actress, classical pianist, and Managing Director at The Russian Arts Theater & Studio. Her theater credits include “The Master and Margarita, Or, The Devil Comes to Moscow;” “Three Sisters;” “Crime and Punishment;” “ My Uncle Chekhov;” “Swan Song;” “The Bear;” “Uncle Vanya;” and “The Seagull.” Film and TV credits include “Speaking With Music;” “ Whiskey Tango Foxtrot;” and “The Blindspot.”

Rainn Wilson, also performs our last two pieces—a quickie called “Which is Better?, in which Chekhov (writing again as Antosha Chekhonte) debates the merits of schools vs. pubs, and “Verotchka.” In this last piece, a studious young statistician finds himself at the crossroads of life when a young woman professes her love for him. It exhibits exactly the balance of rueful comedy and humanity that Wilson—a Chekhov fan—talks about in brief remarks before his deft reading.