Alexander Artyom member of the Art and Litearture Society where he had met Konstantin Stanislavski a year earlier. In 1898 Artemyev became a member of the original Moscow Art Theatre troupe and in its first season made himself quite a name, having appeared in "Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich" (Bogdan Kryukov), "Men Above the Law" (Devochkin), "The Seagull" (Shamrayev, all 1898), as well as "Uncle Vanya" (Telegin, 1899). Anton Chekhov referred to Artyom as his favourite MAT actor and wrote the part of Firs in "The Cherry Orchard" especially for him. The master of episode, he was, according to Stanislavsky, "the epitome of modesty
The Cherry Orchard Varya. Shaken by the disturbance, the family departs for dinner, with Lopakhin futilely insisting that the cherry orchard be sold to pay down the debt. Anya stays behind to talk with Trofimov, who disapproves of Varya's constant hawk-like eyes, reassuring Anya that they are 'above love'. To impress Trofimov and win his affection, Anya vows to leave the past behind her and start a new life. The two depart for the river as Varya calls scoldingly in the background. It is the end of August, and the evening of Ranevskaya's party has come. Offstage the musicians play as the family