Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), a physician by training, is now considered the most notable 20th-century Russian dramatist. His major plays, all staged by Stanislavsky at the Moscow Art Theatre, helped establish psychological realism in European theatre.

Stephen Mulrine (1937-2020) was a Glasgow-born poet and playwright who wrote extensively for radio and television, and published many translations, including English translations of plays in Russian by Chekhov, Gogol and Gorky, as well as translations of plays by Ibsen, Molière, Pirandello, Strindberg and others.