Islands of Chekhov (2008)
Created by Charles Campbell
…we could be in the presence of the unicorn and we would not know for certain that it was one. We know that a certain animal with a mane is a horse, and that one with horns is a bull. We do not know what the unicorn is like...
– Jorge Luis Borges
A film-installation, Islands of Chekhov was inspired by the proximity of the death of Anton Chekhov of tuberculosis in July 1904 and the revolutionary march on the Winter Palace a few months later in January 1905 known as Bloody Sunday. Taking these events as marking a major shift in relations between individuals and the world, the piece explored the representation of history and violence through a mash-up of stories, reports, translations, and short scenes from Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, that questioned the way we view history, revolution, culture, and ourselves. It was projected in front of the windows of the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater while passersby trudged through the early March snow.
Featuring the voices of Blake Bolan, Molly Britten-Campbell, Anthony Campbell, Arthur G. M. Campbell, Arthur M. Campbell, Charles Campbell, Elliott Durko Lynch, Nina Gasteva, Michail Ivanov, Anastasia Kadruleva, Gülgün Kayim, Sean Kelley-Pegg, Cherri Macht, Lewis McKinnell, Susan McKinnell, Vladimir Rovinsky and Rebecca Yoho.