The Sneeze

For this 1988 anthology, English farceur (and expert Russian translator) Michael Frayn supplemented four of Chekhov's best early comic one-acts with adaptations of four of the Russian master's short stories. The Pearl Theatre players gamely throw themselves into the playlets’ silly situations and seem to enjoy frolicking about in period headdresses and facial hair, but without a deep bench of phenomenally gifted clowns, much of the material comes off as merely quaint.—Garrett Eisler