Anton Pavlovich Chekhov – författare

A masterpiece of modern drama, The Seagull dramatises the romantic and artistic conflicts between four characters: the ingenue Nina, the fading actress Irina, her son the symbolist playwright Konstantin, and the famous middlebrow story writer Trigorin.-6 women, 7 men

Mike Poulton's revised translation of Uncle Vanya was presented at The Print Room, London, in March 2012. In his introduction to the text he writes, "It's a measure of the greatness of this play that while translations lose their power, the original never does. It grows more moving, more gripping, and funnier on each reading. The more one works closely with it, the more secrets it reveals."-4 women, 6 men

Konstantin writes an avant-garde play for his beloved Nina to perform. His mother, Arkadina, a successful actress of the traditional school, and her novelist lover Trigorin, attend the first performance - and the meeting of Trigorin and Nina sets in train a series of tragi-comic events which leave no-one unaffected. Mike Poulton's adaptation of the Chekhov classic is fast-moving and funny; his ear for the rhythms, non sequiturs and tangential nature of real speech make it accessible, actable and indisputably modern.-6 women, 7 men

Three Sisters, set in a rural backwater of Russia at the end of the nineteenth century, is a play about dreams, hope, work and love. The sisters of the title dream of returning to Moscow, where their lives, they are certain, will be happier; in the meantime, the eldest and youngest, Olga and Irina, seek solace in work and the middle sister, Masha, married to the local schoolmaster, embarks on a hopeless but passionate affair with Vershinin, commander of the local army battery. Years pass, and their brother Andrei's wife, Natasha, slowly but inexorably ousts Olga and Irina from their family home as well as draining all life and hope from Andrei himself. At the end, rootless and loveless, the sisters face a bleak future with only one certainty: we cannot understand life, we must just endure it. Christopher Hampton's version of Chekhov's classic tragicomedy captures both the light, comic naturalism of its dialogue and the poetic melancholy of its atmosphere, a firm sense of the play's period balancing perfectly with a very modern clarity and economy of expression.It premi red at the Playhouse Theatre in 2003 with Kristin Scott-Thomas, Robert Bathurst, James Fleet and Eric Sykes among a distinguished cast.

Spring 1903. Russia, And the cherry orchard is up for sale. Lyuboy Ranevskaya ran away to Paris five years ago after her only son drowned. Coming back to her beloved childhood home, she's faced with a mound of debts and an impossible decision - lose the family estate or carve up the land for summer holiday cottages. Lopakhin, the wealthy son of a former serf on the estate, sees a money-spinning opportunity and urges her to consider his scheme. But to Lyubov, the magnificent cherry orchard means everything. Written in 1904, The Cherry Orchard was Chekhov's last great comedy of life. This new version by Samuel Adamson was first produced by Oxford Stage Company on a UK tour and at London's Riverside Studios, with Geraldine James as Lyubov and Trevor Fox as Lopakhin.

For Madame Ranevskaya, her cherry orchard is more than just land; it is her childhood, her memories and her life. Returning for the first time since her young son drowned there, she must come to terms with the fact that in order to free her family of debt the cherry orchard must be sold, the trees must be cleared and she and her family must prepare for life beyond the orchard. This touching and often hillarious play exercises the perfect balance of comedy and tragedy, through the characters, relationships and observations of society.

Glasgow, 1890. Andrew Baird calls upon Flora McNeil to settle a debt owed by her late husband. It is a bank holiday, however: no money! Baird is determined and refuses to leave; Flora has to resort to violence. Pistols are brought out for a duel; but first, Baird must teach her to shoot...1 woman, 2 men

Mamet discusses the real theme of Chekhov's play and presents his own version of the story in which a Russian aristocratic family is forced to sell its estate to the son of a peasant.