Chekhov's lyrical plays and uproarious farces continue to entertain theatergoers nearly a century after he wrote them. From his early work The Seagull—a depiction of estranged love and thwarted passion that became a great success Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theater—to his last, The Cherry Orchard—the poignant portrayal of a land-owning family unable to adapt to a changing society—all his plays masterfully combine both levity and pathos. But his comedic genius comes to fruition most fully in his short entertainments, such as the hilarious courtship between a hypochondriac and a shrew depicted in The Proposal. Putting a "slice of life" on stage, Chekhov's dramatic art evokes the painful loneliness of the human condition, yet unfailingly highlights the pretensions and absurdities that make us laugh—at ourselves.
