Drama / 9 m., 6 f. / Var. sets. In rural Russia in the mid nineteenth century, a brilliant, anarchic young medical student arrives at the provincial family villa of his best friend, Arkady, for the summer vacation. He wants to despise the family for their imperturbable complacency and bourgeois effeteness, but he is tormented by conflicting emotions. His desperate action has tragic consequences. "The evening leaves you pondering not just the play's political implications but the ageless tragedy of parent child relationship." London Guardian . "Drama at its most stimulating and eloquent... has the density, complexity and richness of a great 19th century novel without the usual creaking stage mechanism of dramatized fiction." N.Y. Daily News. "A fine, solid piece of drama not just about the divisions between the different generations but also about nihilism, revolution and the immutability of love." Time Out. FEE: $75 per performance.