About the Book Anton Chekhov was a master whose daring work revolutionized theatre. Robert Burstein declared that there are none who bring the drama to a higher realization of its human role. In The Cherry Orchard, his last full-length play, an impoverished landowning family is unable to face the fact that their estate is about to be auctioned off. Lopakhin, a local merchant, presents numerous options to save it, including cutting down their prized cherry orchard. But the family is stricken with denial. The Cherry Orchard charts the precipitous descent of a wealthy family and in the process creates a bold meditation on social change and bourgeois materialism. Book Synopsis Anton Chekhov was a master whose daring work revolutionized theatre. Robert Burstein declared that there are none who bring the drama to a higher realization of its human role. In The Cherry Orchard , his last full-length play, an impoverished landowning family is unable to face the fact that their estate is about to be auctioned off. Lopakhin, a local merchant, presents numerous options to save it, including cutting down their prized cherry orchard. But the family is stricken with denial. The Cherry Orchard charts the precipitous descent of a wealthy family and in the process creates a bold meditation on social change and bourgeois materialism. About the Author Tom Stoppards plays include Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Jumpers, Travesties, The Real Thing, Hapgood, Arcadia, The Invention of Love, The Coast of Utopia , and Rock n Roll . In addition to The Cherry Orchard , Stoppard has adapted Chekhovs The Seagull and Ivanov .