On the High Road

A one-act play by Anton Chekhov. Original Russian title На большой дороге, also known as On the Highway in English or by the fuller title full title On The High Road; A Dramatic Study.

The original text
Based on his 1883 short story In Autumn (Осенью) it tells the story of a group of misfits who meet in a wayside inn. (In 1886 Chekhov also published a short story called On the Road (На пути), with a similar setting.)

Written and submitted for censorship in 1885, it was turned down for performance and banned, and never performed during Chekhov's lifetime. The text of the play was only published after his death.

While Chekhov thought the play too melodramatic, the original story apparently provided Gorky with ideas for the plot of Lower Depths.

Translations and adaptations
Translated into Afrikaans as Oppad ("On the road") from the original Russian by Alice Smith.

Performance history in South Africa
2014: Alice Smith's Afrikaans translation performed as part of the Chekhov Festival at the The Fringe at Joburg Theatre in June  and directed by André Stolz, with André Lombard, Danielle Retief and Riana Wilkens. Zanta Hofmeyr on violin and Maciej Lacny on cello played themes from Rachmaninoff.

Return to
Return to O in Plays II Foreign Plays

Return to South_African_Theatre/Plays

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page