Plays

A collection of five famous plays written by Anton Chekhov. All the plays included in this book are masterpieces which have been highly acclaimed.

The play titled Ivanov explores the story of a man named Nikolai Ivanov, who tries to regain his lost glory while his wife suffers from tuberculosis and needs treatment requiring a lot of money. Ivanov doesn’t have the money to help his wife and thus gets involved in activities that are shunned by people around.

The Seagull presents the story of four characters who become entangled in romantic conflicts. This play was a success when it was first written and has been extended into various parts in the book.

Uncle Vanya presents an interwoven chain of love, lust and greed. An elderly professor and his wife live in a rural estate with Vanya and a young man named Astrov. Astrov and Vanya are attracted to the professor’s wife, while the professor’s eldest daughter develops strong feelings towards Astrov.

All the five plays in the book are critically acclaimed and received positive reviews from their audiences. The revised edition of Plays: Ivanov/The Seagull/Uncle Vanya/Three Sisters/The Cherry Orchard (Penguin Classics) was published by Penguin UK in 2002. It is available in paperback format.

About the Author

Anton Chekhov was a renowned Russian writer and playwright. He is considered to be one of the most popular and talented short-story writers in the history of literature. As a dramatist, he produced four classic dramas. He also worked as a physician for sometime. The Cherry Orchard and Platonov are some of his other works.