Lebedinaia pesnia

Lebedinaia pesnia (лебединая песня in Cyrillic script, or "Swan Song" in English, Swanesang in Afrikaans)) is a one-act Russian play by Anton Chekhov (1860–1904)[1].

The original text

Written in 1887 about Vasili Svietlovidoff, an old comic actor, who spends the night reminiscing about his life and career in an empty theatre. Anton Chekhov's Swan Song [1887] was one of his early plays.

Translations and adaptations

English

Originally translated into English as Swan Song by Marian Fell and published, with an introduction by Fell, in 1912 by Charles Scribner's Sons. A sound recording of the English play by was made by Alan Davis Drake and published as an audiobook in [2]

Since then translated and adapted into English a number of times, including a celebrated adaptation by Michael Frayn performed by Paul Scofield and * in 2006.

Also found as Swansong in English.

Afrikaans

There are three Afrikaans plays called Swanesang (= Swan Song), all three translations of Anton Chekhov's one-act play:

Swanesang by Pietro Nolte (Unpublished, performed 1972/3?)

Swanesang by Salomi Louw, published as an acting text by DALRO.

Swanesang by Nico Luwes, published on the Litnet Spens (http://www.litnet.co.za/Article/litnet-spens-swanesang)

Performance history in South Africa

1972 or 1973: Swanesang presented by the Kaapse Afrikaanse Teatergroep. Mavis Lilenstein was the stage manager.

Sources

World Drama by Allardyce Nicoll, 1947. 683.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov

The Audiobook by Alan Davis Drake, The Digital Archive[3]

Text of Swanesang by Nico Luwes in the LitNet Spens[4]

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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