Uncle Vanya reducing the cast-list from almost two dozen down to nine, changing the climactic suicide of "The Wood Demon" into the famous failed homicide of "Uncle Vanya", and altering the original happy ending into a more problematic, less final resolution—critics such as Donald Rayfield, Richard Gilman, and Eric Bentley have sought to chart the development of Chekhov's dramaturgical method through the 1890s. Rayfield cites recent scholarship suggesting Chekhov revised "The Wood Demon" during his trip to the island of Sakhalin, a prison colony in Eastern Russia, in 1891. A garden in Serebryakov's country estate. Astrov and Marina discuss how old Astrov
The Cherry Orchard her and bring her home to Russia. They are accompanied by Yasha, Ranevskaya's valet who was with her in France. Upon returning, the group is met by Lopakhin, Dunyasha, Varya (who has overseen the estate in Ranevskaya's absence), Leonid Andreyevich Gayev, Boris Borisovich Simeonov-Pishchik, Semyon Yepikhodov, and Firs. Lopakhin has come to remind Ranevskaya and Gayev that their estate, including the cherry orchard, is due to go to auction in August to pay off the family's debts. He proposes to save the estate by allowing part of it to be developed into summer cottages; however, this would require the destruction