TEHRAN-An adaptation of the 1897 play “Uncle Vanya” written by Anton Chekhov is on stage at Shahrzad Theater Complex in Tehran.

Titled “Unfinished Romance from Uncle Vanya,” the one-hour play is directed and produced by Maryam Shirazi.

Shayan Haji-Esmaeili, Sahar Khakpur, Solmaz Keykhaei, Alireza Ataei, and Vahid Tabib form the cast of the play.

The play portrays the visit of an elderly professor and his glamorous, much younger second wife, Yelena, to the rural estate that supports their urban lifestyle. Two friends—Vanya, brother of the professor's late first wife, who has long managed the estate, and Astrov, the local doctor—both fall under Yelena's spell while bemoaning the ennui of their provincial existence.

Sonya, the professor's daughter by his first wife, who has worked with Vanya to keep the estate going, suffers from her unrequited feelings for Astrov. Matters are brought to a crisis when the professor announces his intention to sell the estate, Vanya and Sonya's home, with a view to investing the proceeds to achieve a higher income for himself and his wife.

“Uncle Vanya” is unique among Chekhov's major plays because it is essentially an extensive reworking of “The Wood Demon,” a play he published a decade earlier.

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, Chekhov is often referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theater.

The plays that Chekhov wrote were not complex, but easy to follow, and created a somewhat haunting atmosphere for the audience.

“Unfinished Romance from Uncle Vanya” will remain on stage through February 2 at Shahrzad Theater Complex located at located at No. 74, Neauphle-le-Château St., Hafez St.

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