Petr Shelokhonov created leading roles in several new productions of such classic plays by Anton Chekhov as Uncle Vanya in "Uncle Vanya" (), Ivanov in "Ivanov" (), Tuzenbach in "Three Sisters" (), and Treplev in "The Seagull" (). In "The Cherry Orchard", which he co-directed, he also played two opposing characters on different nights, alternating between the roles as Gayev, and as Lopakhin. Shelokhonov also appeared as Satin in "The Lower Depths" () by Maxim Gorky and as Derzhavin in "Friends and Years" by Leonid Zorin. His favorite role of that period was Platonov in the eponymous play by Anton Chekhov. In
The Cherry Orchard the day's events. Gayev is distant, virtually catatonic, and goes to bed without saying a word of the outcome of the auction. When Ranevskaya asks who bought the estate, Lopakhin reveals that he himself is the purchaser and intends to chop down the orchard with his axe. Ranevskaya, distraught, clings to Anya, who tries to calm her and reassure her that the future will be better now that the cherry orchard has been sold. Several weeks later, once again in the nursery (as in Act I), the family's belongings are being packed away as the family prepares to leave the