Patrick Miles (writer)

Last updated

Patrick Miles (born 30 January 1948) is an English writer and translator. [1] He was born in Sandwich, Kent and attended Sir Roger Manwood's Grammar School, then read Russian and German at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, graduating in 1971.

Contents

He taught Russian and German language/literature for all Cambridge colleges from 1971 to 1977 and 1987 to 1993, as well as researching early Chekhov with a period spent in Moscow 1972 to 1974, meeting leading Russian literary critics including Mikhail Bakhtin. [2] He has been a writer, translator, and researcher since then, and worked in the theatre, including being artistic director of the Cambridge Chekhov Company and Russian consultant to the Royal National Theatre. He was also a Senior Research Associate at Cambridge University 1984–87, after which he ran an information consultancy and a European translation agency 1991–99.

In 2010 Miles was awarded a Cambridge PhD for his publications on Russian literature, especially the work of Anton Chekhov.

He currently resides in Cambridge, where he continues to write books, articles, poems [3] and plays.

Selected works

Books

  1. Chekhov on the British Stage (Cambridge, CUP, 1993) (edited and translated by) ISBN   978-0521384674
  2. Mikhail Gromov, Chekhov Scholar and Critic: An Essay in Cultural Difference (Nottingham, Astra Press, 2006) ISBN   978-0946134687
  3. Brief Lives: Anton Chekhov (London, Hesperus Press, 2008) ISBN   978-1843919001
  4. George Calderon: Edwardian Genius (Cambridge, Sam&Sam, 2018) ISBN   978-1999967604 [4] [5] [6]
  5. What Can We Hope For? (Cambridge, Sam&Sam, 2019) with John Polkinghorne ISBN   978-1999967611

Plays and Stage Adaptations

  1. Ivanov (1974)
  2. Happiness! (1974), a programme of Chekov's one-act plays
  3. The Cherry Orchard (1975)
  4. The Most Absolute Freedom (1975), an entertainment about the young Chekhov
  5. Rabbits (1975), a one-act play
  6. Last Summer in Chulimsk (1977)
  7. Duck-Hunting (1977)
  8. White Guard (1978)
  9. A Month in the Country (1979) [7]
  10. In One Stay (1982), a one-act play
  11. The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Ivan Chonkin (1988), by Vladimir Voinovich
  12. On the Bottom of Life (1994), by Maxim Gorky
  13. The Conjurer (1995), by Sacha Guitry
  14. Let's Dream (1995), by Sacha Guitry
  15. It Makes a Break (1997), a one-act play
  16. Sara (1997), an adaptation of Chekhov's Ivanov
  17. Far Out (1998), a one-act play

Major Translations

  1. Chekhov: The Early Stories 1883–88, translated by Patrick Miles and Harvey Pitcher (John Murray/Macmillan New York, 1982; Abacus 1984; World's Classics 1994, Oxford World's Classics 1999)
  2. A Theatre Romance (1990), translation of Teatral'nyi roman by Bulgakov, commissioned by the Royal National Theatre
  3. Two Plays by Aleksandr Vampilov (1994)
  4. The Russian Theatre after Stalin (1999)
  5. A Moth on the Fence (2009)

Articles, Papers, Book Chapters

  1. Chekhov and the Company Problem in the British Theatre, in Chekhov on the British Stage (1993), pp. 185–93
  2. Aleksandr Vampilov: A Playwright whose Time is Now, in British East-West Journal (December 1994), pp. 7–8
  3. Chekhov, Shakespeare, the Ensemble and the Company; Peter Hall interviewed by Patrick Miles New Theatre Quarterly, 11, no.43 (1995), pp. 203–10
  4. Chekhov on the English Stage, in Chekhov and World Literature (1997), pp. 493–534
  5. Leavis and Bakhtin, Cambridge Review, November 1998, pp. 42–46
  6. A Conversation with Bakhtin, Forum for Modern Language Studies, 36, no.4, October 2000, pp. 438–49
  7. Cheshire Cats in the Theatre: A Translation and Fringe Experience, New Theatre Quarterly, November 2000, pp. 359–63
  8. Early Chekhov: The Making of a Totalitarian Consensus, Slavonica, 14 (2008), no.1, pp. 18–43
  9. Chekhov at 150: The "Hampstead Connection", The London Magazine, June/July 2010, pp. 98–102
  10. Joseph Brodsky in Leningrad, Poetry Nation Review, May–June 2019, pp. 17–20

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anton Chekhov</span> Russian dramatist and author (1860–1904)

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, Chekhov is often referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theatre. Chekhov was a physician by profession. "Medicine is my lawful wife", he once said, "and literature is my mistress."

<i>The Seagull</i> 1895 play by Anton Chekhov

The Seagull is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. The Seagull is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises the romantic and artistic conflicts between four characters: the famous middlebrow story writer Boris Trigorin, the ingenue Nina, the fading actress Irina Arkadina, and her son the symbolist playwright Konstantin Treplev.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacha Guitry</span> French actor

Alexandre-Pierre Georges Guitry, known as Sacha Guitry, was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry, and followed his father into the theatrical profession. He became known for his stage performances, particularly in boulevardier roles. He was also a prolific playwright, writing 115 plays throughout his career. He was married five times, always to rising actresses whose careers he furthered. Probably his best-known wife was Yvonne Printemps to whom he was married between 1919 and 1932.

<i>Three Sisters</i> (play) Play by Anton Chekhov

Three Sisters is a play by the Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov. It was written in 1900 and first performed in 1901 at the Moscow Art Theatre. The play is sometimes included on the short list of Chekhov's outstanding plays, along with The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull and Uncle Vanya.

<i>The Cherry Orchard</i> Play by Anton Chekhov

The Cherry Orchard is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by Znaniye, and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Publishers. It opened at the Moscow Art Theatre on 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Konstantin Stanislavski. Chekhov described the play as a comedy, with some elements of farce, though Stanislavski treated it as a tragedy. Since its first production, directors have contended with its dual nature. It is often identified as one of the three or four outstanding plays by Chekhov, along with The Seagull, Three Sisters, and Uncle Vanya.

Chekhov's gun is a narrative principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed. Alternatively explained, suppose a writer features a gun in a story; if the writer features it, there must be a reason for it, such as it being fired sometime later in the plot. All elements must eventually come into play at some point in the story.

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is a stage play by Tom Stoppard with music by André Previn. It was first performed in 1977. The play criticises the Soviet practice of treating political dissidence as a form of mental illness. Its title derives from the popular mnemonic used by music students to remember the notes on the lines of the treble clef. The cast comprises six actors, but also a full orchestra, which not only provides music throughout the play but also forms an essential part of the action. A chamber-orchestra version also exists.

Ivanov is a four-act drama by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Vampilov</span>

Alexander Valentinovich Vampilov was a Soviet playwright. His play The Elder Son was first performed in 1969, and became a national success two years later. Many of his plays have been filmed or televised in Russia. His four full-length plays were translated into English and Duck Hunting was performed in London and Washington DC.

Platonov is the name in English given to an early, untitled play in four acts written by Anton Chekhov in 1878. It was the first large-scale drama by Chekhov, written specifically for Maria Yermolova, rising star of Maly Theatre. Yermolova rejected the play and it was not published until 1923.

The Presnyakov Brothers, Oleg and Vladmimir, are writers, playwrights, screenwriters, directors, theatre producers, and actor.

<i>A Month in the Country</i> (play)

A Month in the Country is a play in five acts by Ivan Turgenev, his only well-known work for the theatre. Originally titled The Student, it was written in France between 1848 and 1850 and first published in 1855 as Two Women. The play was not staged until 1872, when it was given as A Month in the Country at a benefit performance for the Moscow actress Ekaterina Vasilyeva (1829–1877), who was keen to play the leading role of Natalya Petrovna.

<i>The Lame Devil</i> (film) 1948 film by Sacha Guitry

The Lame Devil is a 1948 French black-and-white historical film written and directed by Sacha Guitry. A biography of the titular French diplomat Talleyrand (1754–1838), it stars Guitry in the lead role. Originally forbidden by the French censor and turned into a play, the film went on to be released into six languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Schmidt (translator)</span> American translator, playwright (1934–1999)

Paul Schmidt was an American translator, poet, playwright, and essayist.

Alexandre Marine is a Russian-born actor-director-playwright currently based in Montreal. On April 23, 1993, he was recognized by the Russian government as a Distinguished Artist of the Russian Federation.

Harvey Pitcher is an English writer, historian and translator. He was born in London, and attended Merchant Taylors' School. During his National Service (1955–57), he studied Russian at the Joint Services School of Linguists, qualifying as an interpreter. Afterwards, he read Russian at St John's College, Oxford, graduating in 1960 with First Class Honours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">René Fauchois</span>

René Fauchois was a French dramatist, librettist and actor. Stagestruck from his youth he moved from his native Rouen to Paris as a teenager to pursue a stage career. He had early success both as an actor and as a playwright. Among those with whom he collaborated as his career flourished were Sarah Bernhardt and Sacha Guitry. His career lasted for more than sixty years, and his output was prolific.

The Wedding is an 1889 Russian one-act play by Anton Chekhov.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Calderon</span> English writer

George Leslie Calderon was an English writer. He was one of the most knowledgeable Englishmen of his generation about Russian life and literature.

The Cambridge Chekhov Company originated in a student production of Chekhov's Ivanov translated by Patrick Miles and directed by Laurence Brockliss and Patrick Miles at the ADC Theatre, Cambridge, 19–23 February 1974. It was presented by the Shadwell Society of Gonville & Caius College.

References

  1. ↑ "Patrick Miles: Biography". patrickmileswriter.co.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  2. ↑ Miles, Patrick (2000). "A Conversation with Bakhtin". Forum for Modern Language Studies, 36, No.4, October 2000. pp.438-49.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  3. ↑ Miles, Patrick (2019). "Emigration". Poetry Nation Review, 247, May–June 2019. p.20.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  4. ↑ Jones, Charlotte (2019). "Laughing Philosopher". The Times Literary Supplement, 18 October. p.28.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  5. ↑ Brockliss, Laurence (2019). "[Review]". The London Magazine, June/July 2019. pp.122-27.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  6. ↑ Pursglove, Michael (2019). "[Review]". East-West Review, 17, no.3, issue 49. pp.39-41.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  7. ↑ Marber, Patrick (2015). Three Days in the Country. p.vii: Faber & Faber. ISBN   978-0-571-32770-6.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.