Longing

Description: All things pass - is this your philosophy? Is there no room for love in your philosophy of life? Renowned and best-selling novelist William Boyd, CBE, adapts two Chekhov short stories, A Visit to Friends and My Life, to weave a comic tale about nineteenth-century Russian provincial life, both familiar and unfamiliar. When Kolia is invited to visit his oldest friends on their Estate in the country he anticipates a pleasant break from Moscow life. But as the comedy of provincial life plays out around him, he finds himself adrift in a miasma of false expectations, missed opportunities, and unspoken passions.

Review: Fascinating ... there is real ingenuity here, and a manifest love and understanding of the Russian writer ... Boyd ingeniously combines these two narrative strands ... a truly Chekhovian atmosphere of rueful longing and the cruel inequality of love ... this partnership between William Boyd and Anton Chekhov is undoubtedly blessed with both wit and moments of deeper feeling. -- Charles Spencer Telegraph 20130307 The play itself is a reverent tribute to Chekhov. There is no mistaking the depth of Boyd's immersion in his work -- Henry Hitchings Evening Standard 20130308

Author Biography: William Boyd is the author of eleven novels, including Waiting for Sunrise. He has won the Whitbread Award; the Somerset Maugham Award; the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize; the James Tait Black Memorial Prize; the Prix Jean Monnet and the Costa Novel of the Year award. An adaptation of his novel Restless has been produced for the BBC. Longing is his first play.

The first play by bestselling author William Boyd, Longing adapts two of Chekhov's short stories, A Visit to Friends and My Life, to weave a comic tale, at once exotic and familiar.