Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory which, after a spring run in Bristol, transferred to the Barbican Centre in London for a five-week run in the autumn. In May 2004 the company was reborn as a charity as it now continues, named Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory 2004 Limited. This new status allowed charitable donations and an element of subsidy to be sought. In subsequent years the company has produced many more Shakespeare plays, as well as Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" and "Uncle Vanya", and Molière's "The Misanthrope". Jonathan Miller was guest director for a 2008 production of "Hamlet". Polinina Kalinina joined the company as
Uncle Vanya in the house, and Vanya speaks of dashed hopes. He feels he’s misspent his youth, and he associates his unrequited love for Yelena with the devastation of his life. Yelena refuses to listen. Alone, Vanya questions why he did not fall in love with Yelena when he first met her ten years before, when it would have been possible for the two to have married and had a happy life together. At that time, Vanya believed in Serebryakov’s greatness and was happy to think that his own efforts supported Serebryakov's work; now he has become disillusioned with the professor and