Chekov comes to the Marathi stage

Continuing its legacy of experimenting with a variety of things, Marathi theatre has been adding new feathers to its cap. The recent stage adaptation of Anton Chekov’s Russain play The Seagull was one such example. As a part of their final year project, students of Lalit Kala Kendra of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) recently staged the Marathi version of Chekov’s play at the university campus.Directed and translated in Marathi by Lalit Kala Kendra’s HoD, Dr Praveen Bhole, it is for the first time that the play has been staged in the language. “For me, it was difficult to translate it, since I did not know the Russian language. However, I read more than five English versions of the play and deeply studied each character. I then wrote the complete play in Marathi,” informed Bhole.
Executed brilliantly by the students, the play dramatises the romantic relation between humans and artists and also explores an artist’s love for art. The play questions how an artist creates art and what is his purpose behind creating something. Set up in a Russian backdrop, the students finely worked on their costumes and also attended workshops to get the play right. With the help of Bhole and the teachers of Lalit Kala Kendra, the students put up a gripping show.





Pics: Shashank Sane