ABSTRACT
The foundation of the Moscow Art Theatre in 1898 makes this year one of the most important dates in the history of the Russian stage. The new theatre was to affect the whole of Chekhov’s subsequent life and literary development, changing him from a writer of experimental plays with limited appeal into one of the leading dramatists of modern Europe, and incidentally providing him with a wife. The Moscow Art Theatre was created by two men of about the same age as Chekhov, Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. Their intention was to bring about a complete reform of the Russian stage, and there was certainly plenty of room for change. Chekhov decided to provide a new home for his mother and sister in Yalta, and though it was a wrench to part with the Melikhovo property, on which so much care had been expended, no other course seemed possible.
