This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian short-story writer, playwright and physician in the turn of the previous century. He's best known for his dramatic works, and especially his four major plays: The Seagull, Three Sisters, Uncle Vanya and The Cherry Orchard. His plays tend to be nearly-plotless character studies. Although they're often about how depressed people are with the lives they lead, Chekhov referred to his plays as Comedies (aside from Three Sisters). His main objective with his work was to get people to see the pain in their lives and make a change. He worked as a doctor most of his life, and there are many doctors as characters in his work. His plays were not well-received initially, and he almost gave up writing after the first production of The Seagull was a bomb. ...and then it was revived 4 years later by the Moscow Art Theater and was a huge smash hit.
Some of his plays have been rewritten in modern variants by Tennessee Williams and Neil Simon.
He's the Trope Namer for the ubiquitous-on-this-site Chekhov's Gun.
Chekhov's turning 150 today. Is there some way to get the Chekhov's Something pages more holiday-like? (Yes, I know I'm a bit late... :-( )
