THE WOOD DEMON
by Anton Chekhov, Translated by Nicholas Saunders and Frank Dwyer
show details
Premiere: Mark Taper Forum, 1994; directed by Frank Dwyer, with Mark Harelik, Lorraine Toussaint, Dakin Matthews, Larry Pressman, Raphael Sbarge, Eric Allan Kramer, Jeremy Lawrence, Nike Doukas, Anne Gee Byrd, and Nicholas Saunders
London production: Playhouse Theatre (West End), 1997, directed by Anthony Clark; cast included Philip Voss, Brian Protheroe, Mike Burns, Abigail Cruttenden, Andree Evans, Adam Godley, Emma Handy, Cal MacAninch, & Amanda Ryan
Published: Smith & Kraus, 1993
synopsis
17 year-old Adam is frantically trying to memorize Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” to recite in his English class, but because he didn’t take his Ritalin this morning, he can’t get much farther than the first line, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…” before an amazing yellow wood begins to grow in his high school. Desperate to prove he’s beaten ADD, he struggles to memorize the poem even as it begins to take on a life of its own, pulling him deeper and deeper into the yellow wood, where he must decide which road he will travel.
quotes & reviews
"The agonies and ecstasies of these people are keenly expressed in this spirited new translation." – Don Shirley, Los Angeles Times, April 11, 1994
"This translation by Nicholas Saunders and Frank Dwyer sings with a sense of universal wisdom, elegance, and wry humor." - Linda Ross, ABC Radio Network, April 11, 1994
"Though I cannot vouch for the literal authenticity of the new translation, it plays superbly. It speaks with verve, but without any quaint, self-conscious tics. We believe everybody." - David Murray, Financial Times (London), June 20, 1997
"Nicholas Saunders and Frank Dwyer...know what words, what colloquial phrases, what bursts of poetry, what explosions of humor, fit appropriately, in English, in an actor’s mouth. Chekhov himself would have applauded this splendid version, which leaps beyond translation or transliteration: it becomes a new work, designed for the rest of this century and the next." – Jerome Lawrence, co-author with Robert E. Lee: INHERIT THE WIND, MAME, etc.
"A wonderfully sophisticated, funny, and universally-themed play full of romance, love, hope, joy, and despair. Recognition must be given to Nicholas Saunders and Frank Dwyer, who have translated it into its present state of wonderfulness." - Candy Carstensen, Beverly Hills Courier, April 11, 1994
"Those who think of this great playwright as essentially melancholy or passive will be amazed at the laughter, passion, hope, and energy of The Wood Demon. Superb translation..." - Gordon Davidson, Artistic Director/Producer, Mark Taper Forum
"
...simple, elegant and eminently actable." – Robert Schenkkan, playwright, Pulitzer Prize (1982) for THE KENTUCKY CYCLE
"Praise and gratitude to Saunders and Dwyer for their glorious translation–which sheds a fresh and brilliant light on this long overlooked treasure." – René Auberjonois
"
...a masterful translation of a young genius at work." – Eduardo Machado, playwright