Discover the early works of the youthful Dr. Chekhov, whose passion for his two warring muses, comedy and tragedy, is nowhere more evident than in his first three full-length plays, Platanov, Ivanov, and The Wood Demon. These works are assembled in this third volume of the complete plays of Anton Chekhov, newly translated by Carol Rocamora and published in honor of Chekhov's centennial. Platonov, Chekhov's earliest, rarely translated play is adapted by Rocamora from its original, six-hour long, unfinished state into a playable comedy about a Russian Don Juan who copes with his boredom and ennui by victimizing every woman in the district. Ivanov, Chekhov's incarnation of the Russian Hamlet, is a marvel of a character study which has challenged actors from John Gielgud to Ralph Fiennes to Kevin Kline. And finally, The Wood Demon, Chekhov's earlier, comedic version of his masterpiece, Uncle Vanya. Actors, directors and lovers of Chekhov's plays will delight in discovering many of the settings, characters, and themes that later appear in his four major works. Theatres will find three exciting full-length plays infrequently performed in the United States which merit renewed attention.

Dr. Carol Rocamora is an educator, translator, playwright and critic. Her three volumes of the complete translated dramatic works of Anton Chekhov have been published by Smith & Kraus. Her new play, "I take your hand in mine....," based on the correspondence of Chekhov and Olga Knipper, premiered in September 2001 at the Almeida Theatre in London starring Paul Scofield and Irene Worth, and opened in Paris in October 2003 at Peter Brook's Theatre des Bouffes du Nord, under his direction, starring Michel Piccoli and Natasha Parry. It subsequently toured Europe from 2003-2005, returned to Paris at the Theatre du Champs Elysees, and culminated at the Barbican Theatre in London. Dr. Rocamora's biography, Acts of Courage: Vaclav Havel's Life in the Theatre, was published in 2005. She has written about theatre for The Nation, The New York Times and The Guardian, and currently contributes to American Theatre and the Broad Street Review. She is a member of the Outer Critics Circle. She has recently completed "Rubles", a collection of original plays inspired by Chekhov's short stories. She is currently working on a biography entitled "Chekhov: Portraits". - See more at: http://www.mbalit.co.uk/author/417#sthash.h0Q5vWXS.dpuf