Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike After spending their adulthood looking after their now-dead parents, neither has a job, and money is provided by their movie star sister Masha, who owns the house and pays the bills. Vanya (who is gay) and Sonia (who is forever reminding everyone that she was adopted) spend their days reflecting on their lost chances, debating whether the grove of nine cherry trees on their property constitutes an orchard, and bemoaning their rather Chekhovian lot in life. The only other resident of the house is their cleaning woman Cassandra, who, like her namesake, is prone to making dire prophecies that no
The Seagull remain a playwright and lead to the overwhelming success of his next endeavor "Uncle Vanya", and indeed to the rest of his dramatic oeuvre. The play takes place on a country estate owned by Sorin, a retired senior civil servant in failing health. He is the brother of the famous actress Arkadina, who has just arrived at the estate for a brief vacation with her lover, the writer Trigorin. Sorin and his guests gather at an outdoor stage to see an unconventional play that Arkadina's son, Konstantin Treplyov, has written and directed. The play-within-a-play features Nina, a young woman who