A New Chekhov in Zagreb (“A Play Without a Title” 2025 at the Zagreb Youth Theatre)

JATS XML:

BibTEX:

Research Information Systems Citation Format:

Download:
PDF
Funding Sources:
This paper was written as part of the project “The Documentary Turn in Post-1989 European Literature,” IP-2025-02-7801, funded by the Croatian Science Foundation.
For citation:
Vojvodić, J. “A New Chekhov in Zagreb (ʽA Play Without a Title’ 2025 at the Zagreb Youth Theatre).” Dva veka russkoi klassiki, vol. 8, no. 1, 2026, pp. 346–367. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2026-8-1-346-367
Abstract:
The article analyzes the staging of “A Play Without a Title” (“Drama bez naslova”) by A. P. Chekhov at the Zagreb Youth Theatre (premiere on 23 May 2025), directed by P. Magelli, with dramaturgy by Ž. Udovičić Pleština. Through the lens of the production and the director’s interpretation, the article examines typical elements of Chekhov’s poetics. The Zagreb production is divided into two parts: a prologue set in the theatre foyer, and the main section performed in the main auditorium. Particular attention is paid to the stage space (the manor-house topos, a video wall with Parisian scenes, the horizontal and vertical stage planes), generational characteristics (the Turgenevian theme of “fathers and sons”), the psychological atmosphere — boredom and misunderstanding between people (mutual alienation of characters, each living in their own world, changes of stage costumes), sound (noise, pauses, and music), and finally the central character of a ply without а center, i. e., Platonov. The analysis shows that Chekhov’s play in Magelli’s production should be understood in a contemporary key, i. e., in the context of the world of financial institutions, the politics of bankers and corporations, and the existence of “little” people lost in a disintegrating world without illusions.
Keywords: A. P. Chekhov, Magelli, “A Play Without a Title,” performance, adaptation
Author: Jasmina Vojvodić
Information about the author:
Jasmina Vojvodić, DSc in Philology, Professor, University of Zagreb, Ivana Lučića 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8740-3934

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Received: November 10, 2025
Approved after reviewing: December 16, 2025
Published: March 25, 2026
Issue: 2026 Volume 8 No. 1
Pages: 346-367
DOI: Visit Website
EDN:
https://elibrary.ru/VYGKSW
UDK: 821.161.1.09"19/21"; 821.163.42.0
Publication Type: Research Article

References

Alekhina, I. V. “Chelovek i deistvitel’nost’ v p’ese A. P. Chekhova ʽBezottsovshchina’.” [“Man and Reality in A. P. Chekhov’s Play ʽFatherlessness’.”] Uchenye zapiski Orlovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriia: Gumanitarnye i sotsial’nye nauki, no. 1, 2013, pp. 226–234. (In Russ.)
Alekhina, I. V. “ʽDvorianskoe gnezdo’ v izobrazhenii A. P. Chehkova” [“ʽA Nest of the Gentry’ in Chekhov’s Depiction”]. Uchenye zapiski Orlovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, no. 1 (82), 2019, pp. 88–91. (In Russ.)
Bigil’dinskaia, O. V. “Rannie p’esy A. P. Chekhova: dialog s I. S. Turgenevym” [“The Early Plays of A. P. Chekhov: Dialogue with I. S. Turgenev”]. Vestnik Kostromskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, vol. 27, no. 1, 2021, pp. 166–171. https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2021-27-1-166-171 (In Russ.)
Bogdanova, O. A. Germenevtika literaturnoi usad’by: teoriia, istoriia, sovremennost’ [Hermeneutics of the Literary Estate: Theory, History, Modernity]. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2024. 560 p. (Series “Russian Estate in a Global Context”, issue 9) (In Russ.)
Zingerman, B. I. Teatr Chekhova i ego mirovoe znachenie [Chekhov’s Theatre and Its Global Significance]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1988. 382 p. (In Russ.)
Zhuravleva, A. A. “Sluchai Chekhova: mir russkoi usad’by v khronotope bol’shogo goroda” [“The Chekhov Case: The World of the Russian Estate in the Chronotope of the Big City”]. Usad’ba real’naia — usad’ba literaturnaia: vektory tvorcheskogo preobrazheniia: kollektivnaia monografiia [The Real Estate the Literary Estate: Vectors of Creative Transformation: A Collective Monograph], comp. and ed. by O. A. Bogdanova. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2021, pp. 53–65. (Series “Russian Estate in a Global Context”, issue 6) (In Russ.)
Ivanova, N. F. “ʽUzhasno ia liubliu vse to, chto v Rossii nazyvaetsia imeniem’ (Chekhov i russkaia usad’ba)” [“ʽI Utterly Love Everything that in Russia is Called an Estate’ (Chekhov and the Russian Estate)”]. Orlov, E. D., editor. Usad’ba real’naia — usad’ba literaturnaia: sbornik statei [The Real Estate — The Literary Estate: A Collection of Articles]. Melikhovo, A. P. Chekhov State Literary and Memorial Museum-Reserve Publ., 2008, pp. 251–272. (In Russ.)
Korol’kova, G. L. “Konflikt v pervoi p’ese A. P. Chekhova” [“Conflict in A. P. Chekhov’s First Play”]. Vestnik Chuvashskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta imeni I. Ia. Iakovleva, no. 1 (81), 2014, pp. 60–64. (In Russ.)
Mochul’skii, K. V. “Teatr Chekhova” [“Chekhov’s Theatre”]. A. P. Chekhov: Pro et contra. Lichnost’ i tvorchestvo A. P. Chekhova v russkoi mysli XX veka (1914–1960). Antologiia [A. P. Chekhov: Pro et Contra. Personality and Creative Work of A. P. Chekhov in 20th Century Russian Thought (1914–1960). An Anthology], vol. 2. St. Petersburg, Russian Christian Institute for Humanities Publ., 2010, pp. 198–206. (In Russ.)
Odinokov, V. G. “P’esa A. P. Chekhova ʽBezottsovshchina’: filosofiia i poetika” [“A. P. Chekhov’s Play ʽFatherlessness’: Philosophy and Poetics”]. Vestnik Novosibirskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriia: Istoriia, filologiia, vol. 7, issue 2, 2008, pp. 104–111. (In Russ.)
Sukhikh, I. N. Problemy poetiki A. P. Chekhova [Problems of A. P. Chekhov’s Poetics]. Leningrad, Leningrad University Publ., 1987. 181 p. (In Russ.)
Engdal’, U. F. Bogi deneg. Uoll-strit i smert’ Amerikanskogo veka [Gods of Money: Wall Street and the Death of the American Century]. St. Petersburg, Proekt “Voina i mir” Publ., 2011. 326 p. (In Russ.)
Bašović, Almir. Čehov i prostor. Struktura dramskog prostora u Čehovljevim dramama kao koncentrirani izraz dramske structure. Novi Sad, Sterijino pozorje Publ., 2008. 165 p. (In Croatian)
Hristić, Jovan. Čehov, dramski pisac. Beograd, Nolit Publ., 1981. 115 p. (In Serbian)
Jergović, Miljenko. Paolo Magelli i petnaest drama Antona Čehova nakon kojih ćemo biti dovoljno ljudi da govorimo o. Available at: https://www.jergovic.com/junak-naseg-doba/paolo-magelli-i-petnaest-drama-antona-cehova-nakon-kojih-cemo-biti-dovoljno-ljudi-da-govorimo-o-zlu/ (Accessed 12 August 2025). (In Croatian)
Nabokov, Vladimir. Lectures on Russian Literature. Chekhov, Dostoevski, Gogol, Gorki, Tolstoy, Turgenev. San Diego, New York, London, A Harvest Book Publ., 1980. 324 p. (In English)
Zozoli, Linda. “Kako završiti s Čehovljevim dramskim krugom? Drama bez naslova i gotovo četrdeset godina suradnje Paola Magellija i Željke Udovičić Pleština.” Zajec, Tomislav. (ur.). Programska knjižica. Zagreb, Zagrebačko kazalište mladih Publ., 2025, pp. 28–36. (In Croatian)