BRISTOL — The Bristol First-Sunday Salon Series continues on Nov. 2, at 7 p.m. at Walkover Gallery, 15 Main St., Bristol. Diana Bigelow and Jim Stapleton will give a staged reading of “I take your hand in mine … .” The play by Carol Rocamora is based on the love letters of the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov and his actress-wife, Olga Knipper. Russian incidental music will be played by Cynthia Huard.
Everybody loves a love story. But this one is special because it’s about two extraordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Chekhov was a great playwright and humanitarian who sensed his life would be brief. Knipper was the vivacious leading lady of the Moscow Art Theater.
They knew each other only six years and were married for three of them, until his death in July 1904. Circumstances — his health, her work — kept them apart for much of that time. So they wrote letters of longing, love and humor, full of the rich detail of their everyday lives. These details provide a tapestry for this theatrical “portrait of a marriage.”
In keeping with the spirit of the series, an open-ended discussion will follow the performance. The leading question will be: “Love letters — have you written any? Received any?” Refreshments will be available. The Bristol First-Sunday Salon Series is intended to be informal, inclusive and participatory. Come as you are, pay what you can, say what you think.
For more information contact Diana Bigelow at 453-5060, [email protected].