The Cherry Orchard – Anton Chekhov

"All Russia is our orchard."

Madame Ranevskaya returns from Paris to her family estate in Russia, which is heavily in debt and facing auction. The merchant Lopakhin suggests cutting down the beloved cherry orchard to build summer cottages, but Ranevskaya and her family are paralyzed by nostalgia and unable to act. The orchard is eventually sold to Lopakhin, the son of a former serf, marking the end of an era.

Chekhov's final play is a tragicomedy about social change. It captures the decline of the aristocracy and the rise of the middle class with a delicate, melancholic atmosphere where characters talk past each other.