Chekhov's penultimate play has inspired a bewildering variety ofinterpretations - both in criticism and in performance - since itspremiere at the Moscow Arts Theatre in 1901. Tri sestry hasbeen viewed both as tragedy and comedy, as a testimony for the eternalyearnings for love, happiness and meaning, and as a devastatingindictment of the folly of inert gentility. Its characters have beenseen as worthy embodiments of the universal 'human condition', or aspassive products of pre-revolutionary Russian privilege. Either way,the sisters are poignant reminders of human disappointment,frustration, loneliness and the passage of time. The play remains afirm favourite with audiences, both in Russia and in theEnglish-speaking world, and must be considered a fundamental work oftwentieth-century European drama.