This review appeared in an
edited form on artsHub.
Chekhov’s
reputation as a writer rests upon the legacy of his four major plays (The
Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard) and his short stories. Generally dismissed as
juvenilia or the work of an amateur writer, his earlier plays – and
particularly the play we generally call Platonov
– should not be so easily dismissed. While sources and critics disagree as to
its exact creation, the consensus is it was written when he was just eighteen,
and finished a few years later as a student in Moscow, and was originally intended for a
notable actress, in the hope she would stage it for her benefit performance.
Sources cannot agree on what happened next, but a (the?) manuscript was
discovered in 1914 (or 1920, depending on who you believe), and it has only
been since the 1950s that the play has found a wider popular and critical
audience, and it has been restored to its rightful place in Chekhov’s oeuvre.
Sometimes you encounter
a piece of theatre which seems to shine with its own light, theatre which
reaches out into the darkness of the auditorium and gently holds you, slips its
fingers under your skin and doesn’t let go for a very long time afterwards. It
was March 2012, and Rita Kalnejais’ Babyteeth was
playing in Belvoir’s Upstairs theatre; billed as “a
mad, gorgeous, bittersweet comedy about how good it is not to be dead yet,” it
was filled with a warmth, a big-heartedness, and an almost-visible hum, and was
– still is – one of the most beautiful new plays I’ve ever seen.
Babyteeth was directed by Eamon Flack,
Belvoir’s Associate Director – New Projects. I don’t make a secret of being a
strong admirer of his work as a director, in particular his work at Belvoir. Following
his recent appointment as Belvoir’s new artistic director from 2016, I sat down
with Flack at the beginning of the year for what became an in-depth discussion
about the classics, dramatic and historical context, his intentions as incoming
artistic director, and about the need for compassion.
When I started this blog in 2012, the first production I reviewed was Belvoir's production of Rita Kalnejais' Babyteeth. At the time, I was wary of spoiling the production, was unsure how to write a review as such (even though I'd read countless others in the papers), and it was very much a half-baked piece of writing. And it's always struck me as the one piece on this blog that I'd most like to change, would most like to rewrite if I had the chance. So, two years later, here I am.
