Foreword: Nathalie Minioti

Afterword: Katia Sotiropoulou

* In provincial Russia, retired professor Serebriakoff and his young wife Elena arrive at their remote estate, which is cared for by Vanya and his niece Sonia, a deprived working girl who secretly loves the charming but decadent doctor Astrov, and his pretentious mother-in-law Maria Vasilyevna. Their presence disrupts the lives of the people there, changes the delicate balances, and brings to the surface lost dreams, unfulfilled loves, and unmet desires.

The boredom and deadlocks of a decaying society lead the drama of cohabitation to its climax and its sad resolution, which restores the balances but does not lead to human happiness. In Uncle Vanya, the reader finds a subtle poetic realism about the daily life of the compromised upper class that was revolutionary for its time.

Anton Chekhov creates sad and disillusioned heroes who feel alienated and describe themselves, as well as others, as "strange" and "eccentric," "foreigners and in exile," creating a sense of detachment from both those around them and from themselves.

Uncle Vanya is neither a tragedy nor a farce, but a lyrical mechanism for capturing psychological vibrations, filled with dialogues and long pauses, in an extensive use of the unsaid, which emphasizes the introspection, reflection, and futile daydreaming of its heroes.