The Bear

As well as being world-famous for classical full-length works like The Seagull, Uncle Vanya and The Cherry Orchard, Anton Chekhov was widely renowned for his short comedic plays known as vaudevilles. Written before he achieved worldwide success, these vaudevilles were short plays with a different style of humour and dialogue than were found in his later works. They explore the human condition, and the beauty, heartbreak and loneliness people experience. When a young widow, mourning the death of her husband, is visited by the irascible Smirnov demanding payment for her husband's debts, things take a surprisingly romantic turn.