Tatyana Repina

Reading notes

• To A. S. Suvorin, 18 November 1888. Moscow. §4 So your "Tatyana" is going on, then? That's good.

  NEW ENTITY -- "Tatyana" here is short for Alexei Suvorin's play "Tatyana Repina" ("Татьяна Репина"), nearing its premiere at the time of this letter; catalogued as an early sighting of that title in this corpus. NON-CONFLATION FLAG: this is a wholly different "Tatyana" from the one named in's translated letter (\S5 there), which refers to the heroine of Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin" in an operatic context -- a different work, a different Tatyana, and a different Suvorin-adjacent context entirely. It is also distinct from Chekhov's own later one-act play "Tatyana Repina" (1889, a private dedicatory sequel to Suvorin's play, catalogued separately in this author's works manifest once translated), which shares only the borrowed title. All three "Tatyana" references in this corpus must be kept as separate entities and never merged.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 18 November 1888. Moscow. §6 When does "Tatyana" go on? Write and tell me, and I'll try to arrive for the first performance.

  Repeats the request to be told the premiere date of Suvorin's "Tatyana Repina" so Chekhov can try to attend; see the \S4 note for the non-conflation flag distinguishing this title from Pushkin's Tatyana and from Chekhov's own later same-titled play.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 18 November 1888. Moscow. §8 Keep well. Give my regards to all of yours. Do write and tell me when "Tatyana" goes on.

  A third repetition of the request to be told the premiere date of Suvorin's "Tatyana Repina"; see the \S4 non-conflation note.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 18 December 1888. Moscow. §28 In his opinion, Yermolova will play Tatyana Repina sooner or later, but the play is hardly likely to go on now

  A significant new development in the "Tatyana Repina" casting thread already opened in's headnote (18 November 1888), where Chekhov reported the play's premiere as imminent and asked to be told the date so he could attend. Five weeks later, this letter shows the play still uncast and, per Lensky's assessment here, its production now in doubt -- the actresses' mutual intriguing having tangled the casting badly enough that Lensky doubts it will go on at all, even though he expects Yermolova will eventually take the role. See the companion crossrefs entry linking back to.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 18 December 1888. Moscow. §31 And it turns out Krylov has saved "Tatyana"! If he hadn't hurried to sell his play to Korsh, there'd be no more talk of "Tatyana" by now.

  Chekhov's wry closing observation that Krylov's sale of his own play to Korsh (\S9) -- by leaving Nikulina without an alternative vehicle -- has inadvertently kept "Tatyana Repina" a live possibility for her; ties together the letter's two subplots (the Krylov/Korsh business deal and the Tatyana Repina casting) into a single ironic point.

• To D. V. Grigorovich, 24 December 1888. Moscow. §8 "Tatyana Repina"

  Alexei Suvorin's play, already established in this corpus; this letter records its Moscow premiere as set for January 16, 1889.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 28 December 1888. Moscow. §3 the corrections to "Repina."

  Alexei Suvorin's play "Tatyana Repina," referred to here by the heroine's surname alone, as it continues to be through the closing run of pre-premiere casting letters (see's headnote and).

• To A. S. Suvorin, 3 January 1889. Moscow. §6 "Tatyana"

  Short-form reference to Suvorin's play "Tatyana Repina", already established in this corpus (see's and's headnotes) as the subject of an ongoing casting and revision exchange; here Chekhov reports receiving the revised copy along with two letters, but not yet the monologue proof or Potekhin's casting letter.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 4 January 1889. Moscow. §6 why did he trouble to write a crimson dithyramb for "Tatyana Repina"?

  "Crimson dithyramb" (source "малиновый дифирамб") is Chekhov's mocking phrase for an overheated, gushing review; "malinovyi" (raspberry/crimson) idiomatically connotes something rich, showy, or excessive in Russian, similar to English "purple" in "purple prose," rendered here as "crimson" to preserve the color image. Refers to Suvorin's play "Tatyana Repina", already extensively tracked in this corpus's casting/revision correspondence, whose Petersburg premiere is reported in \S11 of this same letter as having moved from the 16th to the 19th of January.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 4 January 1889. Moscow. §2 Do at last set your poor captive free, let her go for a walk around the provinces.

  "Your poor captive" is not a person but a figurative personification of Suvorin's play "Tatyana Repina", which Chekhov is helping place with provincial theatres through Rassokhin's distribution bureau; the play's "captivity" is its being held back from print and distribution rather than any literal imprisonment. Compare and, and the following day's, which continues the same distribution business.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 5 January 1889. Moscow. §4 "Tatyana Repina"

  Suvorin's play "Tatyana Repina", already extensively established in this corpus (see's and's headnotes) as the subject of an ongoing casting, ticketing, and revision exchange between Chekhov and Suvorin. Not to be confused with Tatyana's Day (\S6), an unrelated calendar holiday punned on later in this same letter.

• To A. P. Lensky, 6 January 1889. Moscow. §3 "Tatyana Repina"

  Alexei Suvorin's play, already extensively documented in this corpus's surrounding 1888-1889 letters as the subject of an ongoing casting-and-revision exchange; here Chekhov sends Lensky a copy incorporating the author's latest round of corrections.

• To A. P. Lensky, 6 January 1889. Moscow. §6 "Tatyana"

  Short-form reference to "Tatyana Repina", continuing \S3's mention; Chekhov asks Lensky to relay rehearsal and opening-night news to his sister.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 8 January 1889. Moscow. §3 Your play goes on the 16th

  "Your play" is Suvorin's "Tatyana Repina," in Moscow rehearsal at the Maly Theatre; the 16 January premiere date given here matches the date established in's headnote.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 8 January 1889. Moscow. §5 picking up the shards of broken crockery in Act III

  Stage business specific to Act III of Suvorin's "Tatyana Repina," apparently directed by Suvorin himself ("вы заставляете," "you make him"); Lensky, playing Adashev, objects to the business of picking up rather than kicking aside broken crockery. Not otherwise glossed or explained beyond this letter.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 8 January 1889. Moscow. §5 "I to her: brrrr!.. And she to me: brrrr!"

  Lensky's own comic imitation of his and Yermolova's sparring Act I dialogue as Adashev and Repina in "Tatyana Repina," reported at second hand by Chekhov -- not a direct quotation from Suvorin's play text, but Lensky's paraphrase/impression of its rhythm and tone.

• To Ye. K. Sakharova, 13 January 1889. Moscow. §10 Suvorin's "Tatyana Repina."

  Alexei Suvorin's play, already established in this corpus, then in rehearsal in Moscow with Chekhov's involvement; distinct from Chekhov's own later one-act sequel of the same title and from the unrelated Tatyana's Day mentioned two sections later.

• To A. N. Pleshcheyev, 15 January 1889. Moscow. §9 Suvorin is now in Moscow. He is staging his "Tanya."

  "Tanya" is Chekhov's short familiar title for Alexei Suvorin's play "Tatyana Repina", already tracked elsewhere in this corpus under its full title; this is its Moscow run at the Maly Theater, with Lensky as Adashev and Yermolova in the title role.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 8 February 1889. Moscow. §7 "Tanya Repina"

  Alexei Suvorin's play, whose Moscow production and reception Chekhov reports on here; distinct from the historical actress Praskovya Repina after whom the title character is named (see the following note).

• To A. S. Suvorin, 13 February 1889. Moscow. §2 Tatyana Repina

  Suvorin's 1888 play, in performance in Moscow at the time of this letter; Chekhov reports forwarding correspondence documenting its stormy reception there. Not to be confused with Chekhov's own later one-act parody of the same title, a private gift to Suvorin written later in 1889 -- that is a distinct, not-yet-catalogued work and postdates this letter.

• To I. L. Leontyev, 21–22 March 1889. Moscow. §4 "Tatyana Repina"

  Suvorin's own play, then in preparation; Chekhov expects Suvorin to be paid two or three thousand rubles for it, money Chekhov reckons is already spoken for.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 22 April 1889. Moscow. §11 "Tatyana Repina"

  Alexei Suvorin's play, elsewhere in this correspondence also called "Tanya"; Chekhov here asks after the printed text of Act I so it can be sent on to him at Sumy.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 4 May 1889. Sumy. §8 They are going to put on "Tatyana Repina"

  Suvorin's own play, matching the established corpus entity; see \S4, where the same Adashev-Lensky pairing of names appears.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 4 May 1889. Sumy. §9 Send me my "Tatyana Repina,"

  A request for a printed copy of Suvorin's play, which Chekhov calls "my" here in the sense of his own well-thumbed personal copy or interest in it, not authorship.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 14 May 1889. Sumy. §3 my "Tatyana Repina."

  Suvorin's own play "Tatyana Repina", whose proof copy Chekhov acknowledges receiving here; a recurring subject of this correspondence, already established elsewhere in this corpus.

• To A. S. Suvorin, 23 October 1889. Moscow. §7 "Tatyana Repina"

  Suvorin's earlier, controversial play (already catalogued as, its full history recorded there); Chekhov invokes the Caesar's-wife-must-be-above-suspicion maxim to warn that raising it again, even defensively, only invites the comparison and reproach Suvorin is trying to deflect.