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A day in the life of Anton Chekov The Russian Doctor
The Door Birmingham Rep
**** ANTON Chekov is of course regarded highly for the plays that are internationally recognised as master works but prior to their creation In 1890 he made an arduous 11-week journey from his home in Moscow across Siberia to the brutal and remote penal colony on the island of Sakhalin. Already knowing he was
suffering with tuberculosis he began an account of his findings there
that resulted in his only book of non-fiction
Sakhalin Island. As a qualified physician and with the creative
mind of a novelist his observations are a haunting and detailed account
of the Tsarist system of penal servitude and the writing serves as an
insight into Chekhov's motivations for his subsequent work and that of
Russian society at the time. The Russian Doctor is Andrew Dawson’s visual
exploration of Sakhalin Island told imaginatively through the use of
projection, live and recoded narration, props music and his unique
interpretation through physical movement. At times it is a lecture, others interpretive
dance, moving into live animation and all set against constantly
evolving images of projected video and animation onto two overlaying
backdrops.
At times the segue between all of this complex
imagery and his physical performance is a little clunky and
uneasy with Andrew moving from acting out say a physically torn
distorted figure writhing in agony to standing up and then calmly
chatting about the next part of Chekov’s findings like a history
teacher. Mostly though it is inventive and moving with
simple symbolic gestures, such as the gathering of three piles of broken
twigs into a collective heap to represent the inmates of the prison.
Then later the wrapping of them in cloth as one, to become a shrouded
corpse. All of this is supported by a stream of
pre-recorded narration by what sounded like ordinary speakers and at
times, certain voices lacked the character and delivery needed to fully
maximise Chekov’s powerful words. The music was by John Pilcher and Ewan Cambell
and provided an unsettling and eerie soundtrack to the combined visuals
and Andrews movements. A couple of times the screens blacked out and it
seemed like a mistake and with the projection playing such an important
part of the setting it was a sudden distraction. The ability to master the technology alongside a
live performance is not always easy but overall the combined effect was
a transformingly bleak and highly visual personal account of the island
and its broken inhabitants, into an engaging and emotive theatrical
statement. To 13-09-14 Jeff Grant
11-09-14
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