Did Turgenev foresee Russia’s Stalinist future?

Fans of Chekhov have to endure both feast and famine. Feast because his works are revived everywhere. Famine because he concentrated all his riches in just four great plays that grow stale with repetition. For fresh nourishment we turn to Brian Friel, whose stage adaptations of the short stories go some way to appease our hunger. In 1987, Friel applied his skills to Fathers and Sons, by Turgenev, which is now revived at the Donmar.

The magical charm of a Russian estate is superbly conjured by Rob Howell’s set. Slatted timbers and peeling paintwork. Golden shafts of sunlight falling on crimson rugs and scattered wicker baskets. The story concerns two chums, Arkady, a philosophy graduate, and Bazarov, the star of the university who has won every prize available and has become the anointed leader of a dangerous revolutionary group, the Nihilists. Arkady invites Bazarov to spend the summer with his family and an emotional earthquake follows.