The Baron by Anton Chekhov. Short summary

5 seconds

An old prompter, nicknamed Baron, interrupts an artist during a performance and reads his monologue. The old man is fired from the theater for this.

1 minute

An old prompter nicknamed Baron works in the theater. He drinks heavily, dresses in rags, and looks disgusting and comical. He is despised in the theater.

But Baron is a very hard-working and diligent worker. For each performance, he carefully prepares and knows all the lines by heart. Once in his youth he could have been a good actor, but a strong stage fright prevented him from showing his talent.

One day there is a scandal in the theater. The role of Hamlet was given to a red-haired actor who played disgustingly. The Baron could not stand it, began to interrupt him and loudly give advice. This made the audience laugh. Silence was restored with difficulty.

The actor took a little pause, Baron again could not stand it and recited Hamlet’s monologue. He read magnificently, like a real artist, except that the prompter’s voice was old and cracked. The old man would be kicked out of the theater for such amateurism.