Courtin' In Georgia was written for the Los Angeles Library Reading Series, and has also received a staged reading at The Pacific Residents Theatre.
It has also been adapted for radio - and is available for theatrical production, classroom or workshop use, and for radio broadcast.
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So - why adapt a classic work, one that's already been performed to the delight of audiences for well over a hundred years?
In short, because the world that Anton Chekhov lived and wrote in has moved on. I wasn't interested in updating it, or in
setting the play in the modern world, I was interested in keeping the classic setting, but presenting it in a fashion that was more identifiable for today's audience. I bore in mind that Chekhov was himself one generation removed from slavery - his grandfather had actually bought the family's freedom, purchasing the freehold,
which was allowable for serfs. Chekhov's original play was written at a time when the rural landowners were dealing with the social upheaval from the Russian Emancipation; so I tranposed the story to the rural south, to Wheeler County, Georgia, some twenty years after the U.S. Emancipation Proclamation.
I kept the ebb and flow of characters' motivations, but I completely rewrote the language - not only in the idioms of the day, but with a modern pacing and tempo (stichomythia, if you want to get technical). The play could be a strong addition to any high school class discussing Chekhov, or modern
interpretations and adaptations of classic works - and I welcome any educators who would like to include it in their curricula. It's also great fun to perform.
