Chekhov's lyrical plays and uproarious farces continue to entertain theatergoers nearly a century after he wrote them.  From his early work The Seagull --a depiction of estranged love and thwarted passion that became a great success Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theater--to his last, The Cherry Orchard --the poignant portrayal of a land-owning family unable to adapt to a changing society--all his plays masterfully combine both levity and pathos.  But his comedic genius comes to fruition most fully in his short entertainments, such as the hilarious courtship between a hypochondriac and a shrew depicted in The Proposal.  Putting a "slice of life" on stage, Chekhov's dramatic art evokes the painful loneliness of the human condition, yet unfailingly highlights the pretensions and absurdities that make us laugh--at ourselves.