Uncle Vanya Uncle Vanya Uncle Vanya () is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski. The play portrays the visit of an elderly professor and his glamorous, much younger second wife, Yelena, to the rural estate that supports their urban lifestyle. Two friends—Vanya, brother of the professor's late first wife, who has long managed the estate, and Astrov, the local doctor—both fall under Yelena's spell, while bemoaning the "ennui" of their provincial existence. Sonya,
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