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This true story of ANTON Chekhov begins

backstage, at the disastrous opening of  THE SEAGULL...

 

…where we meet a country doctor, enchanting to women, whose passion for theatre was both life and death to him-

 

   A luminous actress for whom he wrote,

  and their impossible love-

 

   And a company of amateurs inspired

  to change the theatre, forever.

 

  THE STORY INCLUDES-

 

- Bewitching LIKA, whom ANTON will

   not take and cannot let go;

 

- Valiant sister MASHA, who gives up

   her happiness for his career;

 

- His stormy partnership with the   

   irrepressible KONSTANTIN Stanislavski;

 

- His star-crossed marriage to brilliant

   OLGA Knipper;

 

- His final clash with KONSTANTIN over

     THE CHERRY ORCHARD

 

  The on-stage company invokes the magic

  of theatre to tell their story, and as one, 

  give birth to the Moscow Art Theatre.

 

  VILLAGE VOICE - "VOICE CHOICE"

  OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE -

                     "Recommended list"

----------------------------------------- TO MOSCOW

                  Published by

​

 Also appears in Scenes & Monologs from    the Best New Plays.  Ed. Roger Ellis,       Meriwether Press 

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 THIS PROJECT OWES ITS BIRTH to...

 the upbeat creative buzz that permeates

            Buzz Mclaughlin's

 "Writing for Stage & Screen" MFA program

   at the New Hampshire Institute of Art

            - a magical place!

   Now sponsors a reading of screenplay           in which a Hollywood director embarks on his final film: an adaptation of the play

TO MOSCOW, in which he plays Stanislavski:

      ________ ______________________________

      THE GREAT GOD SOKOLOV

____________________________________________

 SEE ALSO... CHEKHOVS AT HOME -3 plays: 

 

   Please God No Wedding or Shooting

                              at the End!

   Anton Himself, and Masha Too

 

Playwright's note: As soon as To Moscow    

 was out there, people began asking for   more plays about Chekhov, so before I

was done 3 more "Chekhov" plays had

been commissioned by:

Actors' Theatre of Louisville

People's Light & Theatre Company, Malvern,PA, and by

Tisch School of the Arts, NYU, NY.

WHAT CRITICS SAY--

 

"...the remarkable To Moscow ...emerges as an important work... (Sunde) juxtaposes humor and suspense and grief and elation, leaving us not the tiniest fraction of a moment to stop feeling intensely" 

 

PLAYS INTERNATIONAL

 

          

"Tragicomic, pure, and delicious...absurdly charming...delightfully grand"                        

TimeOut

 

 

"intriguing...all quickly, skillfully drawn and effectively portrayed...

becomes thrilling"

 

BACKSTAGE

 

 

"Sunde makes us love her characters the way the Moscow Theatre actors grew to love the 'ridiculous' Ranevskia

of The Cherry Orchard. ...To Moscow is a wonderful, moving, memorable play." 

 

NEW YORK TRENDS

 

 

"The performances vibrate with the energy and sense of ensemble that brings people to the theatre"

 

Off-Off Broadway Review

 

 

'"A Warm, Humane Play' ...passionate...

extremely strong characterization and dramatic web...

 

"Chekhov's life in the theatre, blended with love..."

 

MILLIYET ARTS AND LITERATURE MAGAZINE (Ankara, Turkey)

 

TO MOSCOW by Karen Sunde

Photo courtesy of and thanks to Murray Ross

___________________________________

TO MOSCOW productions

 

Ankara Devlet

National Theatre

Turkey

 

Chain Lightning Theatre

New York

 

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