Unlikely as it might seem today, the appearance in 1923 of a previously unpublished and untitled play by Chekhov seems to have aroused little interest in Russia outside literary circles. However, it is not surprising that it was ignored by the Soviet theatre of that time. Firstly, Chekhov was about the last dramatist likely to excite the new revolutionary avant-garde. Secondly, the Moscow Art Theatre was still in the grip of the artistic paralysis to which it had been reduced by the events of 1917, and seventeen more years were to elapse before it staged a new production of Chekhov. Finally, the prospect of a ramshackle text almost three times the length of any other Chekhov play would have deterred most theatres even at the best of times. In fact, it was not until 1957 that the work received its Russian premiere, though by that time it had been staged around the world in various versions and under a curious variety of titles.