From noon to sunset and the next morning, in the forest of Epalinges, and with the characters of the Russian masterpiece, time passes and the old world is turned upside down.

The play' s enormous ambition paved the way for theatrical modernity thanks to the scope of its plot and its characters stripped of all heroism. Anna Petrovna, a young widow, invites a group of friends to her country home every summer. No one knows it yet, but this summer will be their last: the estate will be sold to pay off old debts and the group will break up.

One character stands out and precipitates the end of this world: Platonov, a fallen aristocrat in his thirties, a melancholic without stature whose acerbic irony earns him admiration and fear. He is nothing, has accomplished nothing, has no ambition, but he fascinates. He himself and the admiration he arouses are symptoms of an amorphous and spineless age. He will lead the various actors in this play, including himself, to their ruin. The chatter and jokes that initially animate this small summer community are soon followed by drunkenness, seduction and regret before the almost chance arrival of death.

The play speaks of fierce friendship, love and desire, faithfulness and obstacles, lack of character and dreams of change. With the help of many secondary characters and without fear of detours or dead ends, this vast play paints the portrait of a young society that does not know how to deal with the impossible legacy of the world bequeathed by its fathers.

In this beautiful piece, which is the result of a long-term collective project – five summers, one per act, spent rehearsing together in the countryside – each act of the play is performed in a different area of the forest, inviting us to follow it in tranquil wandering. The dramaturgy incorporates the landscape, the natural perspectives, the weather, the light (there is no other lighting), while attention is paid to a minimal ecological footprint and possible unexpected encounters: the performance is an opportunity to spend a weekend in the forest, with Chekhov, the theatre and the actors. For Chekhov's drama is coupled with a parallel plot, that of the performers who have come together to rehearse this dizzying theatrical text. Like the characters, performers and spectators are invited to enjoy this special time spent together, whatever may happen, and as if in anticipation of a necessary social change.