Murder in a Chekhov Setting

6 hrs. 7 min.

Language Russian

Author Anna Knyazeva

Narrator Alexey Isievsky

Actress Leonella Balandovskaya had always dreamed of performing on the stage in a Chekhov production. And then her chance came—“Uncle Vanya,” and Leonella had one of the leading roles. But not everything is so simple in the provincial theater that invited Balandovskaya. A small troupe is torn apart by internal conflicts and contradictions, and of course no one in the town was happy about the arrival of a capital-city star. Then an unexpected tragedy struck: during a performance of Gogol’s “Viy,” the coffin containing the young lady floating over the stage broke loose from its ropes and fell. Actress Karina Kropotkina died. And this isn’t the first tragic incident in the theater: many years earlier, another servant of Melpomene died—a young beauty, Raisa Snegina. It’s her ghost, as the old-timers believe, that has been haunting the actresses ever since. Her husband persistently urges Leonella to give up everything and return home, but she isn’t going to back down and is ready to take part in investigating both a new and an old crime…

1. Greta Garbo's Farewell Kiss (narrated by Natalya Volokhina) 2. Girl from Still Waters (narrated by Natalya Volokhina) 3. Murder in a Chekhov Setting Greta Garbo's Farewell Kiss (narrated by Alexey Isievsky)