Mentinand o totala latitudine a autorului in procesul de creatie, Versiune pastreaza in permanenta dreptul auctorial al lui Akunin atunci cand reinterpreteaza Hamletul shakespearian sau Pescarusul cehovian, cu sensibilitatea si iscusinta unui dramaturg care vorbeste engleza cursiv si rusa ca limba materna, si care este, desigur, constient de alte posibilitati literare ingenioase de a readapta piese celebre. Demonstrand ca poate realiza mai mult decat o reluare a lui Hamlet, cum face Stoppard in Rosencrantz si Guildenstern sunt morti, Akunin produce in Versiune o piesa cu noi valente dramatice. Desi pastreaza tiparul lui Hamlet, Versiune revitalizeaza Hamletul clasic dandu-i un inteles contemporan, imbogatit de o asociere plurivalenta cu Pescarusul cehovian. Doctorul Dorn, junele prim care colinda lumea mai bine de doi si care il readuce de doua ori la viata pe Treplev dupa tentativele de suicid inainte de a-l impusca, apare ca un descendent neasteptat al unui Horatio extrem de diferit de filozoful contemplativ al Hamletului shakespearian. Apropiind culturile Europei, doctorul Dorn si Horatio ofera o ocazie inedita de a explora in zilele noastre potentialul imaginativ al lumilor lui Shakespeare si Cehov printr-o confruntare teatrala de gen detectiv.
Deftly securing creative latitude, A Version forwards Akunin’s own voice as he channels Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Chekhov’s The Seagull with the interpretive sensibility and chameleon skills of a playwright who speaks English well and Russian with native fluency, and who is also well aware of other ingenious renderings of famous originals. He is about to do more of a new staging than Stoppard did in his famous rewrite of Hamlet in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead when he crafts in A Version, as well as in The Seagull, a most unusual dramatic transcreation. While remaining faithful to the original, A Version makes Hamlet live anew for contemporary audiences, engaging fresh perspectives that further expand on a porous engagement with Chekhov’s The Seagull. Doctor Dorn, the jeune premier who travels around the world for two years and twice brings Treplev back to life from his suicide attempts before shooting him, becomes an intriguing descendant of a very different Horatio, who has little in common with the contemplative philosopher of the original Hamlet. Bridging European cultures, Doctor Dorn and Horatio provide an opportunity for experiencing the imaginative potential of Shakespeare’s and Chekhov’s worlds in our times through A Version’s delightful, head-on theatrical encounter ingeniously steeped into the detective genre. (Ileana Alexandra Orlich)
