Melikhovo the noise of the main house. In November 1895 Chekhov completed "The Seagull" in this house, and in 1896 he finished Uncle Vanya there. In 1898, upon his return from Nice, in France, he wrote a trilogy of three famous stories there: "The Man in a Case", "About Love", and "Gooseberries". In May 1899, after the success of the Seagull at the Moscow Art Theater, he invited the leading actress of the play, Olga Knipper, to visit him. She stayed in the guest cottage for three days in mid-May 1899. She married Chekhov in May 1901. As his tuberculosis became
Uncle Vanya improved. "Uncle Vanya" became a permanent fixture in the Moscow Art Theatre. Other actors who have appeared in notable stage productions of "Uncle Vanya" include Franchot Tone, Cate Blanchett, Peter Dinklage, Jacki Weaver, Antony Sher, Ian McKellen, William Hurt, George C. Scott, Donald Sinden, Derek Jacobi, Michael Gambon, Tom Courtney, Trevor Eve and Laurence Olivier. The play was also adapted as the new stage-play "Dear Uncle" by the British playwright Alan Ayckbourn, who reset it in the 1930s Lake District—this adaptation premiered from July to September 2011 at the Stephen Joseph Theatre. <poem>Are you Uncle Vanya? I am. [Gunshot sounds]