Lebedinaia pesnia
Lebedinaia pesnia (лебединая песня in Cyrillic script, or "Swan Song" in English) is a one-act Russian play by Anton Chekhov (1860–1904)[1].
Contents
The original text
Written in 1887 about an old actor who spends the night reminiscing about his life and career in an empty theatre.
Translations and adaptations
English
Originally translated into English by Marian Fell and published in 1912 by Charles Scribner's Sons.
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 or Swan Song 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Swanesang by Pietro Nolte (Unpublished, performed 1972/3?)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 Teatergroep. Mavis Lilenstein was the stage manager.
Sources
World Drama by Allardyce Nicoll, 1947. 683.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov
https://archive.org/details/AntonChekhov-SwanSong-AOneActPlay-AlanDavisDrake
Go to ESAT Bibliography
Return to
Return to PLAYS I: Original SA plays
Return to PLAYS II: Foreign plays
Return to PLAYS III: Collections
Return to PLAYS IV: Pageants and public performances
Return to South African Festivals and Competitions
Return to The ESAT Entries
Return to Main Page