Adapt or Die

The murder of a wealthy landowner leads to the arrest of his eldest son. A grieving widow matches wits with her late husband’s aggressive creditor. Family loyalties are severely tested over the fate of a beloved summer home. Factory workers kill a hated boss and connive to hide the killer.

The Brothers Karamazov captures the spirit, scope and dark humour of the Dostoevsky novel. Gorky’s unknown gem Enemies and Chekhov’s bright farce The Bear are given vibrant, contemporary language. Joining these three adaptations is an entirely new play, After the Orchard, inspired by Chekhov’s last play and placed in contemporary Ontario cottage country. No matter the setting, Russian never sounded so good.

Includes:
THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV, from the novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Constance Garnett translation)
THE BEAR, a new version of the vaudeville by Anton Chekhov
ENEMIES, an adaptation of the play by Maxim Gorky
AFTER THE ORCHARD, a new play inspired by Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard

AUTHOR

Jason Sherman

Jason Sherman has written extensively for the stage, radio, and television. His plays include Remnants (A Fable); It’s All True; Patience; Reading Hebron; The Retreat; The League of Nathans; An Acre of Time, and Three in the Back, Two in the Head, which won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama. He served as executive story editor and writer on the TV series ReGenesis, earning Gemini and Canadian Screenwriting Award nominations. For CBC Radio he wrote “National Affairs,” “Irving Invectus,” and “Graf,” for which he received the Canadian Screenwriting Award for radio drama. He is currently working on several television, radio and film projects. He lives in Toronto.