The subtleties of chuckling at Chekhov

Young Chang

In a time of band camp humor, “Lethal Weapon” shenanigans and

slapstick in which people fall over, bump into walls and drop things,

nine students from Orange Coast College are taking a more subtle approach

to comedy.

So subtle, in fact, that it should first be noted that Russian writer

and physician Anton Chekhov did write comedies. He wrote dramas and short

stories and, yes, funny pieces. But they’re a different sort of humor,

the kind that depends on nuances of words and how the words are played

rather than “hit-you-over-the-head” gestures.

“You go to movies today, and it’s all spectacle,” said student

director Ramsey Schlissel. “We have to have big bangs and special

effects. But in Chekhov’s time, words really had to show humor.”

Three pieces -- “The Bear,” directed by Schlissel; “On the Harmfulness

of Tobacco,” directed by faculty advisor Rick Golson; and “The Sneeze,”

headed by student director Sean Gray -- will be performed by students in

OCC’s Repertory Theatre Company today, Sunday, Sept. 15 and Sept. 16 in

the Drama Lab Studio.

The short comedies will open the repertory’s 2001-02 season, and the

cast is certain that even a pre-revolutionary Russian sensibility will

incite laughs.

“Funny is funny,” said actor Frank Miyashiro, 24. “Our follies and our

insecurities are the matter of laughter and the fertile ground for our

humor.”

But Golson points out that understanding Chekhov is essential to

making Chekhov funny, because his humor is specific to the era.

The comedic language is an archaic, late 1800s Russian-speak,

Schlissel added, with lots of double-entendres and hidden morsels of

meaning that directors need to search for.

“I think he exemplifies the culture of the late 1800s,” the

34-year-old continued. “And his plays show social commentaries of the

day.”

In “The Bear,” a widow named Popova who isn’t much of an equestrian

lauds her late husband’s horseback-riding skills. She says that he had

“such a graceful bearing as he hauled with all his might on the reins,”

unaware that holding back a horse in fear isn’t the mark of a skilled

horseman.

“They were so bound up,” Schlissel said of people at the time.

“Physically, too, that words really had to show the humor.”

Except in “The Sneeze,” that is. Gray, a 23-year-old student at the

school, says the pantomime piece does not involve words. It’s a story

about how somebody sneezes and irritates everybody else in the theater.

“It’s like a silent movie,” he said. “You can’t be that subtle with

pantomime.”

But Golson and Schlissel maintain that the subtleties of Chekhov’s

laughs are valuable to learn during any era.

“Since he’s a classic writer, it’s very good to, as a director, try

different genres,” Schlissel said.

FYI

WHAT: Comedies by Chekhov

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 16

WHERE: Orange Coast College’s Drama Lab Studio, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa

COST: $6 or $7

CALL: (714) 432-5640, Ext. 1