The Present single work   drama   - 2hrs 30mins (including interval)
Adaptation of Platonov Anton Chekhov , 1878 single work drama
Issue Details: First known date: 2015... 2015 The Present
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Anton Chekhov’s first play was a sprawling, unstructured epic but it marked out the style and themes he would return to in his later masterworks from The Seagull to The Cherry Orchard. It remains a mysterious, unpolished gem.

'The manuscript, left unpublished until almost two decades after Chekhov’s death, lacked a title. Over the years it has inspired various adaptations – Wild Honey, Fatherlessness, The Disinherited –but it is most commonly referred to as Platonov, the name of the man at its centre. And yet, the play has always contained another extraordinarily rich and complex character – that of Anna Petrovna.

'Taking on these roles are the fearsome talents of Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh. Irish director John Crowley, renowned for his work on the West End and Broadway, brings his lean and precise theatrical vision. And, as with his 2010 adaptation of Uncle Vanya, Andrew Upton lends his distinctive voice, brimming with vitality, to this tale of yearning, vodka and shattered dreams.' (Production summary)

Production Details

  • Presented by Sydney Theatre Company and UBS. World premiere: Sydney Theatre 4 August - 19 September 2015.

    Director: John Crowley.

    Designer: Alice Babidge.

    Lighting Designer: Nick Schlieper.

    Cast:  Anna Bamford, Cate Blanchett, Andrew Buchanan, David Downer, Eamon Farren, Martin Jacobs, Jacqueline McKenzie, Brandon McClelland, Marshall Napier, Susan Prior, Richard Roxburgh, Chris Ryan, and Toby Schmitz.


    To appear on Broadway 8 January 2017.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

A Platypus in New York City Marcus Breen , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: Arena Magazine , August no. 149 2017; (p. 44-46)

'Remember', wrote Peter Carey in his 2003 novel 'My Life as a Fake', 'this is the country of the duck-billed platypus. When you are cut off from the rest of the world, things are bound to develop in interesting ways'. Well, yes, of course 'things' are bound to 'develop'. But what does 'interesting' mean? The arrival on Broadway of the Sydney Theatre Company (STC) adaptation of Anton Chekhov's unnamed and unpublished text as 'The Present' is indeed 'interesting', in the way Peter Carey almost always suggests in his work: 'interesting' in that socially discounted way that reduces culture to its banalities while amplifying a kind of Antipodean inadequacy.' (Publication abstract)

STC Gets Ready to Pack Its Bags for Broadway Elissa Blake , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 29 January 2016; (p. 16)
Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh to Make Broadway Debut in The Present Steph Harmon , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 28 January 2016;
Storming Broadway with Style Joel Meares , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 10-11 December 2016; (p. 2)
Cate Extolls the Rich Talent of Oz Joel Meares , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 10-11 December 2016; (p. 2)
Agents of Change Andrew Upton , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 25-26 July 2015; (p. 8-9)

— Review of The Present Andrew Upton , 2015 single work drama
Fireworks Stir Turbid Waters Jason Blake , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 10 August 2015; (p. 11)

— Review of The Present Andrew Upton , 2015 single work drama
Dream Team’s Russian Assignment Elissa Blake , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 9 August 2015; (p. 5)

— Review of The Present Andrew Upton , 2015 single work drama
Scaling the Heights Sharon Verghis , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 8-9 August 2015; (p. 3)

— Review of The Present Andrew Upton , 2015 single work drama
Vodka-fuelled Visions John McCallum , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 10 August 2015; (p. 14)

— Review of The Present Andrew Upton , 2015 single work drama
Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh to Make Broadway Debut in The Present Steph Harmon , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 28 January 2016;
STC Gets Ready to Pack Its Bags for Broadway Elissa Blake , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 29 January 2016; (p. 16)
Broadway's Mr Connected Kristie Kellahan , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 5-6 November 2016; (p. 33)
Broadway-bound Cate Gets a Shot at a Tony Michaela Boland , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 10-11 December 2016; (p. 3)
Cate Extolls the Rich Talent of Oz Joel Meares , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 10-11 December 2016; (p. 2)
Last amended 20 Nov 2018 10:04:18
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