Sipsworth

Spring in Yalta brings on despair. Two sailors, exhausted by northern voyages, laze in the south, despising the fussy bustle of a resort. They feel bored, empty, and awkward amid this smoothed-over, unreal happiness. They look for something authentic but find only debased memories and тосka for the harsh North. A visit to Chekhov’s house turns out not to be a pilgrimage, but a painful awareness of someone else’s loneliness and their own ridiculous role as outsiders…