Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) first turned to writing as a medical student at Moscow University, from which he graduated in 1884. Among his early plays were short monologues (The Evils of Tobacco, 1885), one-act farces such as The Bear, The Proposal and The Wedding (1888-89) and the 'Platonov' material, adapted by Michael Frayn as Wild Honey. The first three full-length plays to be stage, Ivanov (1887), The Wood Demon (1889) and The Seagull (1896) were initially failures. But the Moscow Arts Theatre's revival of The Seagull two years later was successful and was followed by his masterpieces, Uncle Vanya (1889), Three Sisters (1901), and The Cherry Orchard in 1904, the year of his death.

'boredom, waste, loss and wretchedness are seldom so eloquent and engaging.' Georgina Brown, Mail on Sunday, 8.11.09 'Nobody could write about underdogs as well as Chekov. He was their chronicler, their unsentimental spokesman, their tactful psychoanalyst.' John Peter, Sunday Times, 15.11.09