Love for three copies: on a little-known and mysterious play by Anton Chekhov

The monograph on Anton Chekhov’s play Tatyana Repina written by Olga Spachil, an associate professor of the Kuban State University, is reviewed. The author of the book reveals the details of the publication of the play: its first edition, published in three copies, is now an extreme bibliographic rarity. She briefly characterizes the history of the creation and the content of the play. The plot of the play is connected with the biography of the Russian actress Eulalia Pavlovna Kadmina. The book reflects not only the tragic fate of the actress, but also touches upon philosophical issues that are revealed through reflections on life and death. The book’s thematic aspect is connected with the perception of the play in other countries and in other historical times. One of the sections of the book reflects Kadmina’s personal and creative biography, based on the contemporaries’ memories about her. Using new factual material collected from the archives, Spachil describes in detail the story of Kadmina’s suicide, which formed the basis of the plot of the play. The author of the book has an individual, creative attitude to her protagonist. The reviewer defines the book as a research monograph that shows the reader the historical and literary context in which the play was created. The text of Aleksey Suvorin, which became the prototype of Chekhov’s one-act play and is placed in the book as an appendix, is analyzed. The reviewer notes the significance for the reviewed book of conferences on Chekhov’s oeuvre that are regularly held on Sakhalin. The reviewer expresses hope that this new book will contribute to the growth of reader interest in the works of the great Russian writer and playwright.