Payne says, “The severe, accusing doctor of the Braz portrait vanishes in the actor, the mimic, the clown, who would amuse himself by going to a hotel with a friend, pretending to be a valet, and proclaiming in a loud voice all the secret vices of his master, until the whole hotel was in an uproar. Chekhov hated the picture, which made him look severe and judgmental saying, “It smells of horseradish.”) (Title refers to the portrait of Chekhov painted by Joseph Braz that hangs in the Moscow Art Theater. While researching my role, I came across the following information from the introduction of The Image of Chekhov, by Robert Payne, pages xi-xii:
It also wasn’t until after the fact that we realized Chekov did his own bit of undercover performances in his day, making him an especially appropriate choice. It wasn’t until after the date had been set and everything organized that we realized Anton Chekov died in 1904, exactly 100 years ago. The timing of this mission is mere coincidence.
A few months ago, we finally found someone who we thought could pull off the Chekov impersonation. The plan was to set up a card table in Washington Square Park with a large sign that read “Meet Anton Chekov” and have someone sit behind it claiming to be said Russian playwright. Nearly two years ago Agent White pitched the idea “Meet Anton Chekov” to Improv Everywhere.