Timely telling of Chekhov classic in Leamington

The story about a noble family’s failure to manage its finances is set in Russia at the end of the 19th century, and premiered only a few years before the nation’s cataclysmic revolution.

It was originally written as a comedy with a set of memorable, idiosyncratic characters. But even its earliest productions found the tragic potential of the decadent family and retainers too much to resist – and the Talisman Theatre’s production, directed by John Dawson, seeks to tread a path between the two.

Publicity manager John Francis said: “The theatre’s management regarded the production not only as a timely revival of a great play about loss in a society in transition, but also a play asking who will gain and lose privilege in a contemporary world where age-old certainties are once-again collapsing.”