Anton Tschechow: „Der Kirschgarten“ & „Die Dame mit dem Hündchen“

Classics of literary history with Ulrike Draesner and John von Düffel
Moderation: Anne-Dore Krohn
Prologue and epilogue: Timo Brunke

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), one of the great Russian storytellers and playwrights, was a successful literary career changer. He worked mostly unpaid as a doctor, but earned his living with humorous short stories that appeared in magazines. "The Cherry Orchard", first performed in 1904, was his last play before he died: the noblewoman Lyubov Ranevskaya is faced with the loss of her heavily indebted estate and fights to keep her beloved cherry orchard. In the end, all but the old servant have to leave the estate. Chekhov's comedy paints a picture of a declining society and tells of the awakening of an aspiring bourgeoisie. In "The Lady with the Little Dog", he again tells a love story that is initially reminiscent of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and the motif of adultery. But here Gurov and Anna do not fail because of their affair: "And only now, when his head turned gray, did he love properly, just as it must be - for the first time in his life." Writer Ulrike Draesner and author and dramaturge John von Düffel talk about Chekhov's modernity.

A series of events organized by LpZ Stuttgart and DerDiwan Hörbuchverlag
Supported by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport Baden-Württemberg