Master Russian playwright Anton Chekhov is being revived and reinterpreted Sept. 22-Oct. 10 at New York City's Access Theatre during the Chekhov Now festival, a joint presentation of the Laboratory for International Theatre Exchange and Access Theatre.

Among the festival productions will be:

€ Anton Himself, Karen Sunde's one-man piece in which the playwright, alone in his study, relects on life. Richard Levine stars.
€ At Sea, a puppet show by David Gochfeld, adapted from a short story about a young sailor who discovers people are even worse than he thought.
€ The Cherry Orchard, directed by Hyong-Take Limb, a collage of scenes from the classic Chekhov play about a woman who must sell her family's beloved orchard.
€ The Jubilee, directed by Adam Melnick, a rarely-produced office farce transformed into a modern cartoon. Melnick will also direct the courtship farce, The Proposal.
€ Screeching Chalk, a Francesca Viscardi-adapted and directed combination of "A Wedding" and "Smoking is Bad for You."

Jackie Christy (Access Theatre) and Limb and Melnick (LITE) are the festival's artistic directors.

In conjunction with the Fest at Access, a free staged reading of Claude Solnick's adaptation of Chekhov's The Kiss will be held Oct. 9 at 4 PM. The story tells of a soldier at war who keeps remembering a meeting he had with a woman. Marian Sarach directs the reading. Tickets to Chekhov Now productions are $12 and available by calling (212) 414-7773. Access Theatre is located at 380 Broadway.

-- By Christine Ehren & David Lefkowitz