Three Days in the Country

Born in Orel in central Russia in 1818 Ivan Turgenev studied at the universities in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Berlin and worked briefly for the civil service before turning to writing. He wrote several novels that examined the social, political and philosophical issues of the time as well as many plays and short stories. Living mainly in Baden-Baden and Paris Turgenev was acquainted with a variety of influential writers and met Dickens and Trollope among others on his travels to England. He was widely perceived to be the first major Russian writer to achieve great success in Europe. Turgenev died in Paris in 1883.Patrick Marber was born in London in 1964. He began his career as a writer in 1986. He co-wrote and appeared in a number of radio and television programmes including The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You and, more recently, BBC R4's Bunk Bed (with Peter Curran). In 1995 his first play Dealer's Choice premiered at the National Theatre in a production he also directed. Since then, he has written and directed plays and screenplays including After Miss Julie, Closer, Howard Katz, Don Juan in Soho, The Red Lion, Three Days in the Country, Hedda Gabler, Notes on a Scandal and Love You More. He has also directed two of Tom Stoppard's plays, a revival of Travesties and the premiere of Leopoldstadt. He lives in London with his wife and their three children.