The Beast's Pen

Set in rural Russia, Maxim Gorky’s 1905 play features a privileged middle class set, preoccupied with their own relationships and oblivious to the swelling revolutionary forces at their door. This is Chekhov, more direct and , therefore, less subtle, yet more welcome because it is not so familiar. However, some aspects of the translation are jarring, particularly the inclusion of very modern expressions, and the direction is uneven, moving uncertainly between comedy and tragedy. The set is lavish for a production that is otherwise too small for the Lyttelton’s huge stage and the climax is quite literally explosive.