A dying professor created by this author never shares with his adopted actress daughter that he thinks live theater is superfluous since “if the play is poor, no acting will make it good.” The title for George Saunders’ book A Swim in the Pond in the (15[1])Rain (15[1])derives from a story by this author in which a surgeon becomes depressed by seeing his fat younger brother living on a farm. Two lovers realize “the hardest, the most complicated part was only just beginning” at the end of a story by this author about a man who refers to (*) women as “the lower race.” In a story by this author, a chance re-encounter at a performance of The Geisha leads Dmitri Gurov to declare his love for a woman he had met in Yalta with her pet dog. For 10 points, name this Russian author of the play The Cherry Orchard. ■END■