WASSILY LEONTIEF
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mances. The backdrops are dirty brown as are the overall s worn by the
equine cast. Besides a few barn posts, the o nl y prop is a horse's tail , no t
a llached to th e acto r's body but rather held in hi s hand. An exuberant
swish, a hopeless sag o f a long ta il expresses a mood as poignantly as
the lift or drop of a ba ll erina's a rm.
This is a case in which the original narrative (transposed into
dramatic language for the stage) provides the actor with a particularly
deep in sight into the purposes and stra tegy of the author.
In
contrast to
a recent New York production o f the
Cherry Orchard,
which was long
o n o ri ginality but short on understanding of Chekhov, thi s company
and its director understood Tolstoi, hi s peasants, hi s offi cers and hi s
horses, and communi cated thi s knowledge to the audience with grea t
skill. When the final curtain fa ll s, o ne has seen superb thea ter.
