About the Play:

The Good Doctor is a full-length dramatic comedy by Neil Simon. An unnamed writer (obviously meant to represent Anton Chekhov himself) creates several stories of human eccentricities and frailties, preceded by a music concert, in Neil Simon's adaptation of several actual Chekhov short stories. The Good Doctor can be done as a full evening or you can do two or three of the scenes as a One Act.

The Good Doctor is a series of short plays drawn from the work on Anton Chekhov. What happens when the funniest Russian from the 19th century meets the funniest American from the 20th century? Neil Simon displays both the famous New Yorker's wit and his utter adoration for that great Russian, in a delightful parody of the works of Anton Chekhov. This Broadway hit is a series of ten short, independent scenes set in turn-of-the-century Russia. In one sketch a harridan storms a bank and upbraids the manager for his gout and lack of money. In another, a father takes his son to a house where he will be initiated into the mysteries of sex, only to relent at the last moment and leave the boy more perplexed than ever. In another sketch, a crafty seducer goes to work on a wedded woman, only to realize that the woman has been in command from the first overture. Let us not forget the classic tale of a man who offers to drown himself for three rubles. The stories are droll, the portraits affectionate, the humour infectious and the fun unending.

The Good Doctor opened on Broadway in 1973 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. The play enjoyed widespread acceptance among leading regional theatres, and over the years it featured a number of famous actors, including Marsha Mason, René Auberjonois, Frances Sternhagen and Christopher Plummer. It has become a popular choice for high school, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 3 female, 2 male

What people say:

"A great deal of warmth and humor in his retelling of these Chekhovian tales." — Newhouse Newspapers

"There is much fun here. Mr. Simon's comic fancy is admirable." — New York Times

"Expertly weaves a variety of Chekhov short stories into laugh-out-loud evening of infectious humor, touching tenderness and unending fun." — The Theatre Mirror (Boston)

About the Playwright:

Neil Simon (1927-2018) was America's most prolific playwright. He had dozens of plays and nearly as many major motion pictures produced. He was showered with more Academy and Tony nominations than any other writer, and is the only playwright to have four Broadway productions running simultaneously. His plays have been produced in dozens of languages, and in 1983 became the only living playwright to have a New York theatre, the Neil Simon Theatre, named in his honour. His true success, however, is in his unique way of exposing something real in the American spirit.