''Longing'' is a 2013 play by the Scottish writer
William Boyd, based on the short stories ''
My Life My Life may refer to:
Autobiographies
* ''Mein Leben'' (Wagner) (''My Life''), by Richard Wagner, 1870
* ''My Life'' (Clinton autobiography), by Bill Clinton, 2004
* ''My Life'' (Meir autobiography), by Golda Meir, 1973
* ''My Life'' (Mosley a ...
'' ("The Story of a Provincial") and "
A Visit to Friends" by the Russian author
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...
. Its premiere production ran at the
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...
in London from 28 February to 6 April 2013 (with the press night on 7 March),
directed by
Nina Raine
Nina Raine is an English theatre director and playwright, the only daughter of Craig Raine and Ann Pasternak Slater, and a grand niece of the Russian novelist Boris Pasternak.
She graduated from Christ Church, Oxford in 1998 with a First in Eng ...
and starring
Tamsin Greig
Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is an English actress, narrator and comedian. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Green Wing'', Beverly Lincoln in Br ...
,
Iain Glen
Iain Alan Sutherland Glen (born 24 June 1961) is a Scottish actor. Glen is best known for his roles as Dr. Alexander Isaacs/Tyrant in three films of the ''Resident Evil'' film series (2004–2016) and as Ser Jorah Mormont in the HBO fantasy te ...
,
John Sessions
John Marshall (11 January 1953 – 2 November 2020), better known by the stage name John Sessions, was a British actor and comedian. He was known for comedy improvisation in television shows such as ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', as a panellist o ...
,
Jonathan Bailey
Jonathan Stuart Bailey (born 25 April 1988) is an English actor. Known for his comedic, dramatic, and musical roles on stage and screen, he is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award and a nomination for a Evening Standard Theatre Award.
Bai ...
,
Natasha Little
Natasha Emma Little (born 2 October 1969) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Edith Thompson in the film '' Another Life'', Lady Caroline Langbourne in the BBC miniseries ''The Night Manager'', and Christina Moxam in the B ...
, Eve Ponsonby and
Catrin Stewart. Boyd, who was theatre critic for the
University of Glasgow
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, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
in the 1970s and has many actor friends, refers to his ambition to write a play as finally getting "this monkey off my back".
Michael Billington, theatre critic for ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', said that the play is "something of a hybrid: neither pure Boyd nor pure Chekhov. But it works because it deals with eternal Russian themes – and because it is performed with rare musical precision".
However, Clare Brennan, for ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'', said: "Boyd tacks circumstantial details to plotline shreds then trims characters to fit his pattern. The result is not a patch on the originals."
References
External links
Official website*
Lawson, Mark (20 March 2013). "Why Chekhov has never been busier", ''The Guardian''. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
2010s debut plays
2013 in theatre
2013 plays
Plays based on short fiction
Plays based on works by Anton Chekhov
Plays by William Boyd (writer)
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