The problem with Chekhov is that once you get started it is hard to stop. I turned to The Seagull the other night in this wonderful collection , translated by Laurence Senelick. It is perhaps his most engaging play with characters that leap off the page, such as the eternally young stage actress, Irina Arkadina, who constantly terrorizes her son, Konstantin Treplev. He is vainly trying to break standard conventions when it comes to play writing, but finds himself unable to elicit the emotions most persons, especially his mother, look for in theater. Senelick noted that Tolstoy didn't think much of the play, content only with a single passage in which Treplev castigated the state of the theater at the time. But, Chekhov struck a wonderful balance between comedy and drama, not letting his speeches dominate the play. Treplev finds he is no match for his mother, who diminishes him at every turn. The play opens with Konstantin staging one of his play...