Letters of Anton Chekhov (Tchekhov) - Penn State University

Anton ChekhovTO K. S. STANISLAVSKY.YALTA, October 30, 1903.… Many thanks for your letter and telegram. Letters are very preciousto me now—in the first place, because I am utterly alone here;and in the second, because I sent the play three weeks ago and onlygot your letter yesterday, and if it were not for my wife, I shouldknow nothing at all and might imagine any mortal thing. When Iwas writing Lopahin, I thought of it as a part for you. If for anyreason you don’t care for it, take the part of Gaev. Lopahin is amerchant, of course, but he is a very decent person in every sense.He must behave with perfect decorum, like an educated man, withno petty ways or tricks of any sort, and it seemed to me this part,the central one of the play, would come out brilliantly in your hands…. In choosing an actor for the part you must remember that Varya,a serious and religious girl, is in love with Lopahin; she wouldn’t bein love with a mere money-grubber ….419