Check on Chekhov at Harding University

Welcome to the ornate Alexandrinsky Theatre in Russia during the 18810s. Here,Mme. Nyukhin is overseeing an evening of entertainment as her way of her coming outas a great impresario of the theatrical arts. From her private box in the spectaculartheatre, she oversees the evening to ensure that the audience has a delightful time inspite of her bumbling husband who she pressed into service as the master ofceremonies for the evening.Realizing that the evening should have some social merit, she chose to begin with alecture by her husband on The Harmfulness of Tobacco. When she arrives at her boxwith the lecture in full gallop, or rather full limp, she realizes that her insipid husband hasmade a mess of things. Again. She then has to try to salvage the performance as bestshe can.Her first offering of the evening is The Bear. A single, woman-hating creditor burstsinto the home of a widow who is in mourning because of the need for money that thedeceased owed him. The widow despised her cheating husband but is determined tomourn him. The creditor and the widow instantly form a love-hate-desire-loathe-repeatrelationship that includes everything from a pistol duel to a proposal. Yet, somehow, itall works out in the end.Then Mme. Nyukhin presents a more fanciful view of love in The Proposal. A comicinterlude on the prospect of marriage. A father, his adult daughter and their neighbor alldesire the same thing a wedding. However, their stubborn behavior, selfishness, pig-headedness and opinionated personalities all get in the way of mutual happiness.Somehow, it all works out in the end.Then, into the proceedings bursts a small-town actress determined to get TheAudition. She may be from a hamlet, but she is determined to conquer the big city.She performs an audition in which we discover not only her tale of woe but that she issingularly capable of butchering every classic monologue known to European theatre.Finally, things get back on track for a final presentation as the bank president is about tocelebrate The Anniversary of his esteemed intuition with all the proper ceremonies anddignitaries. Unfortunately, the ornate proceedings are interrupted by a working-classwife who is determined to get money from this bank that she says she is owed but themoney is owed from somewhere else. There is also a down on his luck clerk who isdesperately trying to get his job done and the presidents trophy wife who is needingsome attention from any male with radar range. All this is complimented by a host ofother petty annoyances. Somehow, it all doesnt work out in the end.