Note on the Cherry Orchard
The work was written in 1903. It was first published in the magazine "Knowledge" in 1903 in the second issue. The first performance took place at the "Art Theatre" in Moscow on January 17, 1904. We must assume that the unfavorable reviews regarding both the subject and the style of his previous work "Three Sisters" prompted Chekhov to write a new play with a different subject and tone.

While writing his new work, Chekhov was refining the style he had created and was striving to renew his theatrical technique by employing the forms of comedy. This is evident from some of his remarks such as: "The play I am writing will undoubtedly be comedic, very comedic. At least that's how I think of it." Or: "There are moments when I have a great desire to write for the 'Art Theatre', a four-act comedietta or a comedy." Or: "I keep dreaming of writing a fantastic comedic play."

Indeed, in comparison to his previous works, the "Cherry Orchard" has this particularity: that its skeleton and construction are comedic. (A series of comedic episodes and scenes, comic characters, and generally an exaggerated tone). The comedic style of the play did not prevent him from dramatically addressing the misfortunes of several individual characters (Ranevskaya, Gayev, Varya), and this dramatic atmosphere permeated the entire work.

Another new feature of the work was that it dealt with a socially situated theme. Within the framework of psychology and life. This theme was emphasized by the direction of the "Art Theatre" and was commented on in various ways by the contemporary press.

V. Doroshevich (Russky Slovo, 1904, January 19) noted that he saw in the work Chekhov "a magnificent poetic, deathbed wish" in favor of the landed gentry that was passing away. The critic of "Politsiya" (Homunculus 1904, January 22) evaluated the work as "a small page of contemporary life, written with authenticity, that illuminates the negative aspects of the petty nobility and the petty landowner in its aggressive rise." The critic of "Novaia Dnia" (1904, January 1) wrote about the ruined house of the landowners that Chekhov depicted "with touching, delicate colors that compel you to remember Turgenev."

In "Moskovskiye Vedomosti", it was written (Exler, 1904, January 19) that in Chekhov's new work "three generations come face to face: The generation before the liberation that is now nearing its end, the generation of the 1880s, and the new generation that will take its place." This note, as well as the introduction and the "Cherry Orchard", were translated from the Soviet Edition of Chekhov's Complete Works.