(Jessie Waldman's article ran in The Independent, 1/8.)

Chekhov: The first truly modern master

Anton Chekhov's 150th anniversary is being marked by a host of theatre seasons, star-studded productions and special broadcasts. Paul Taylor joins in the celebration of the great writer – and wonders what the humble grandson of a serf would have made of all of the fuss

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born on 29 Jan 1860, so 2010 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of the man who was not just the greatest dramatist of the 19th and early 20th centuries, but a short-story writer of genius, the author of a wonderfully observant and aphoristic notebook, and a large-minded and rewarding communicator by letter.

(Read more)

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/chekhov-the-first-truly-modern-master-1860893.html

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