The first play by bestselling author William Boyd, Longing adapts two of Chekhov's short stories, A Visit to Friends and My Life, to weave a comic tale, at once exotic and familiar.

All things pass – is this your philosophy? Is there no room for love in your philosophy of life? Renowned and best-selling novelist William Boyd, CBE, adapts two Chekhov short stories, A Visit to Friends and My Life, to weave a comic tale about nineteenth-century Russian provincial life, both familiar and unfamiliar. When Kolia is invited to visit his oldest friends on their Estate in the country he anticipates a pleasant break from Moscow life. But as the comedy of provincial life plays out around him, he finds himself adrift in a miasma of false expectations, missed opportunities, and unspoken passions.

"Fascinating . . . there is real ingenuity here, and a manifest love and understanding of the Russian writer ... Boyd ingeniously combines these two narrative strands . . . a truly Chekhovian atmosphere of rueful longing and the cruel inequality of love . . .this partnership between William Boyd and Anton Chekhov is undoubtedly blessed with both wit and moments of deeper feeling." - Telegraph

"The play itself is a reverent tribute to Chekhov. There is no mistaking the depth of Boyd’s immersion in his work" - Evening Standard