This version of Chekhov's classic work by playwright Simon Stephens is an anguished and heartbreaking love letter to a society in violent transition.

Simon Stephens began his theatrical career in the literary department of the Royal Court Theatre, where he ran its Young Writers' Programme. His plays for theatre include Bluebird; Herons; Port; One Minute; Christmas; Country Music; On the Shore of the Wide World; Motortown; Pornography; Harper Regan; Sea Wall; Heaven; Punk Rock; The Trial of Ubu; A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky (co-written with David Eldridge and Robert Holman); Marine Parade (co-written with Mark Eitzel); T5; Wastwater; Morning; an adaptation of A Doll's House; an adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Birdland and Blindsided. His radio plays include Five Letters Home to Elizabeth and Digging. His screenwriting includes an adaptation of Motortown; the two-part serial Dive (with Dominic Savage) and a short film adaptation of Pornography. Awards include the Pearson Award for Best New Play, 2001, for Port; Olivier Award for Best New Play for On the Shore of the Wide World, 2005; and for Motortown German critics in Theater Heute's annual poll voted him Best Foreign Playwright, 2007.