Summerfolk

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Summerfolk (Russian: Дачники, Dachniki) is a play by Maxim Gorky written in 1904 and first published in 1905 in the Znaniye anthology in Saint Petersburg. The story features characters who could come from a Chekhov-like world and is set in 1904, the year Chekhov died. It examines the Russian middle class and the changes happening around them. The Russian premiere took place on 10 November 1904 at the Komissarzhevskaya Theatre in Saint Petersburg. The British premiere was by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in London on 27 August 1974, adapted by Jeremy Brooks and directed by David Jones, who helped bring several of Gorky’s plays to Britain. Nick Dear adapted the play for a 1999 production at the Royal National Theatre’s Olivier stage in London. The play is set to return to the Olivier Theatre from 6 March to 29 April 2026.