Another lackluster play I worked on. Again, don't remember a thing. Also see no reason to write plays that are takes on Chekhov—just produce the Chekhov play. ( )

The literature text book I use with my 7th graders has a short play in it called "A Defenseless Creature" by Neil Simon and based on a short story by Anton Chekhov. It's a simple scene about a woman who describes herself as defenseless and the banker she tries to get her husbands back wages from. The fact that the banker has nothing whatever to do with the woman's husband does not deter her from begging and pleading for the money. It's a very funny scene that never fails to get lots of laughs from my students. So I thought why not use the entire play?

"The Good Doctor" is a very funny collection of nine skits based on the short stories of Anton Chekhov. They make for amusing reading and would have been excellent for use with my students, but for the last skit. Even when Chekhov is at his most farcical, as he is in "The Sneeze," he still manages to make a point or two about life in his times. In "The Sneeze," an average worker goes to the theatre on opening night. He is a devotee of the arts and saves all the money he can to spend on good seats. Before the play begins he realizes that the couple sitting in front of him is his employer and his wife. The man becomes uncomfortably aware that his situation is awkward. What will his employer think about his presence in such an expensive seat on opening night? Should he greet his employer? Can he use this opportunity to advance his career? Unfortunately, as the play begins, the man sneezes an enormous sneeze directly on the bald head of his employer. My students would have loved this.

The rest of the play is just as funny and still manages to have a point. There are lots of parts, enough for every student in the class. It's perfect. Right up to the very last skit. In "The Arrangement" the author's father takes him to visit a brothel on the occasion of the young man's birthday. It's a very good skit, touching actually. The young man is nervous, worried about what is going to happen and what he'll be like afterwards, unsure that he wants to become a man so soon. The father is understanding, carrying on a tradition his own father started, but not quite sure himself that he wants his son to become a man. Can this wait another year? I liked the skit. I also like my job and want to keep it.

So we won't be using Neil Simon's "The Good Doctor" in my seventh grade class. ( )

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