King’s College students John Toussaint, left, as Russian landowner Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov, and Oliver Conmy, right, as Stepan’s daughter, Natalya Stepanovna, are concerned about their neighbor, Ivan Vassilevitch Lumov, portrayed by Noah McGinnis. Ivan’s health problems seem to be manifesting themselves.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
‘Brown Bag Theatre’ designed for lunch hour viewing
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When a wealthy Russian landowner named Stepan greets his visiting neighbor, Ivan, it seems like a pleasant situation.
Ivan, who has donned his best clothes for this occasion, politely addresses the older gentleman as “honored Stepan Stepanovitch.”
And, Stepan, for his part, calls Ivan “my dear fellow,” even “my precious” and “my darling.”
When Stepan realizes Ivan has come to ask for the hand in marriage of his daughter, Natalya, he sheds a tear of joy, tells his neighbor he’s always loved him “as if you were my own son,” and assures him Natalya is more than likely to agree.
Sounds promising, doesn’t it?
Welcome to Anton Chekhov’s one-act play “A Marriage Proposal,” which King’s College Theater Department will present for three performances, at 12:10 p.m. March 26 through March 28.
King’s recently reintroduced its tradition of “Brown Bag Theatre,” designed for audience members to spend part of their mid-day break watching a short play while, if they wish, eating lunch they’ve brought at tables set up in the auditorium.
Before you attend this play, perhaps you’d like to consider the 1888-1890 time frame during which Chekhov wrote it and it was first presented.
Natalya is 25, and would have been considered an old maid, said Oliver Conmy, who has that role.
Ivan, meanwhile, at 35, “was kind of, sort of not expected to live much longer,” said Noah McGinnis who plays Ivan and did some research on 19th century life expectancy.
You can see why all three characters might consider this potential marriage a now-or-never situation.
“He knows how urgent this is for them,” John Toussaint said of his character, Natalya’s father.
But when Natalya enters the room and greets Ivan, she doesn’t know he wants to propose. Still, all goes well enough until he mentions how “my Oxen Meadows touch your birch woods.”
What? Ivan’s Oxen Meadows? Natalya begs to differ, and quite an argument ensues.
“It’s utterly ridiculous, and over the top,” director Jahmeel Powers said, noting each character “seems to be in their own bubble.”
The play is one of Chekhov’s earlier works, Powers said, and it’s more humorous than his later, heavier scripts, like “The Seagull” and “Uncle Vanya.”
Here audiences can watch in amusement as Natalya and Ivan, barely recovered from their first argument, launch into another, about who owns the better hunting dog. Never mind that if they marry they can share ownership of both dogs and land.
But suppose they stop arguing long enough to agree to a wedding? What kind of marriage would they have?
“I think it will work out,” Conmy said.
The play is expected to last about half an hour, Powers said. Admission is free for King’s students, and ranges from $5 to $10 for other groups, from non-King’s students to the general public.