Those audiences fortunate enough to have seen a production of Chekhov's The Wood Demon, know that it is a marvel, a play equal to The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard, and The Three Sisters. Unlike the others, The Wood Demon is a young man's play, bursting with vitality, energy, and hope. Chekhov has not yet drawn the sky close around his characters: they are able to continue on, undaunted, in the face of sorrow and disappointment. In its intermingling of tears and laughter, The Wood Demon may be one of the most astonishingly Chekhovian of all Chekhov's plays. This translation of The Wood Demon was produced by The Mark Taper Forum as a classics lab workshop production and will debut on the Taper mainstage in the 1993-94 season.