536 SEER, 8i, 3, 2003 stoppingto considerhow Bulgakov'ssardonicimaginationmightbe transmuting them and playingwith our expectations. Finally to Slobodanka Vladiv-Glover's 'The Object in Voznesenskii's Oza and the Reclamation of theAvant-Garde'.Itsfirstparagraphwould have been about a page long, but it iswell and trulyhijackedby itsown footnotes -over one hundred closely printed lines. The pattern continues. Ozaitself does not get even a mention until over two-thirds the way through the article: meanwhile, everything and anything concerning psychoanalysis, specially Lacanian (on which the author is hooked), modernism, surrealism,the body, the object, etc., etc., bursts into these crazily-proliferating annotations. Actually they are entirely fascinating:the more so since there turn out to be footnotes to the footnotes, and even footnotesto the footnotesto the footnotes, apparently presenting the author's id, or maybe super-ego, at work (e.g., 'NOTE: You did not finish this thought. OK I HAVE NOW ADDED!', p. 270). It may be barmy, but it is 'unputdownable'and in itsway instructive. Footnote-surrealismreaches a new height when the author refers us to her own (but non-existent) analysis of Petrushevskaia'elsewhere in this volume' (p. 270). Do not miss this volume it is a classic of the Festschriftgenre, and gives plenty of food forthought. University ofSussex R. R. MILNER-GULLAND Chekhov, Anton. TheSeagull. Translatedfrom the Russian by Michael Frayn. Commentary and notes by Nick Worrall. Methuen, London, 2002. xcvi + go pp. Chronology. Notes. Bibliography.?7.99 (paperback). ALTHOUGH Chekhov aspiredto dramaticinnovation, Chaika displaysmany of the features of more traditionaltheatre, such as set speeches and confrontations , a clear division between major and minor roles, obtrusive symbolism (the seagull itself), structuralartifice(the awkwardgap between Acts III and IV), and a closing suicide. With its incestuous concentration on two authors and two actresses, Chaika appearsmore localized than Chekhov'slaterworks (DiadiaVania,Trisestry,Vishnevyi sad),and hence the weakest item in the great quartet. Nevertheless, even aftera century, Chaika remainsperenniallyalive, since it touches upon such universal themes as youth and age, innocence and experience, frustration,love, loneliness, creativity,and misplaced goals. The young desire fame, the famous covet youth, and nearly everyone chases the phantom of love. The play is also enhanced by such typically 'Chekhovian' elements as the blending of laughter and grief, a tendency towardsensemble orchestration, and the elusive subtlety of mood and meaning. Since its triumphant revival at the Moscow Arts Theatre in I898 (which eased somewhat the pain of the I896 fiasco),numerousproductionsthroughoutthe world have confirmed the viability and pathos of the vulnerable, errant Seagull. In England, for instance, there have been outstandingproductionsin 1936, I964 and I990. REVIEWS 537 Michael Frayn'stranslationof Chaika, prefacedby his own introductionand note on the translation,firstappeared as a Methuen paperbackin 1986. For the most part, his translation is accurate, fluent and eminently speakable, while the introductionis intelligent and well written. Fraynperceives Chaika's ambiguity of tone, where everything is open to interpretation; all the relationshipsin the play are one-sided and unlikelyever to be resolved;art is shown as a distortingand deadening process. Frayn'sachievement has rightly been much admired, and is reproduced unaltered in this new Methuen Student Edition (which strangely omits Chekhov's subtitle for Chaika,'A Comedy in Four Acts'). Disappointingly, various misprints and minor errors remain uncorrected after sixteen years, including brother Georgi (for cousin, p. lxxx), Yavorkskaya (p. lxxxviii), nonetity (p. 28), ExitARKADINA intothehouse (forTRIGORIN, p. 33). The downtrodden Medvedenko requests only 'a horse', not 'any horses' (pp. 49, 51); Shamraev'swords 'kak-to' and 'zastrelil' mean 'once shot', not 'somehow managed to shoot' (p. 59). Frayn'stranslationcontains severalinfelicitiesand omissions, some of which are indicated in Nick Worrall'snotes, which thus servein partas a reasoned critiqueof the translation. Indeed, WVorrall's informative and well-informed commentary and notes provide the mainjustificationforpublishingand purchasingthis 'new' edition of an 'old' translation.In over fiftypages of commentary,Worralltacklesand illuminates such topics as Naturalism and Symbolism, the seagull and the enchanted lake, Konstantin's play-within-the-play,time and memory, youth and age, sleep and dream, art and life, love and destruction, comedy and tragedy. He also considerssome problems of translation,criticalperspectives and significantproductions. Perhaps inevitably, Worrall'svaluable commentary may offer too much material for the average student, but not...