Dear Writer, Dear Actress

About This Book

He was Russia's greatest playwright. She was the leading actress in Stanislavski's legendary Moscow Art Theatre. Together they created some of the most memorable women ever to grace the stage: Elena in Uncle Vanya, Masha in Three Sisters, Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard. But Anton and Olga were more than just artistic collaborators. From 1899 until Chekhov's untimely death in 1904, the two were friends, lovers, and finally husband and wife. Dear Writer, Dear Actress traces the passionate relationship and extraordinary careers of this great theatrical couple. Anton Chekhov spent the better part of his life struggling against tuberculosis. In 1898, his declining health forced him to move from his estate near Moscow to Yalta's milder southern clime. Olga's work kept her in Moscow, yet she and Anton proved to be avid correspondents, and through an almost daily exchange of letters, their union flourished.