"Mercurius present Chekhov's one-act plays The Bear, The Evils of Tobacco and The Proposal. These classics of the comic theatre, full of energy, invention and splendidly magnified performances, were written by Chekhov the humorist, in between struggling to create his great plays Ivanov and The Seagull.

Joined here by three dramatised short stories - Drama, The Alien Corn and The Inspector-General that Chekhov wrote for the humorous journal 'Splinter', translator and adapter Michael Frayn has created an evening of entertainment and comic invention."