Uncle Vanya was first published in 1897 but was not performed by the Moscow Art Theater, where it premiered, until October 26,1899. Well received by audiences, Uncle Vanya was not entirely a success in Chekhov's own estimation. The directors at the Moscow Art Theater—Konstantin Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko—did not understand Chekhov's artistic vision, and Chekhov, sick with tuberculosis by the time Uncle Vanya was produced, could not intervene. Nemirovich-Danchenko wrote, "Chekhov was incapable of advising actors. ... Everything appeared so comprehensible to him: 'Why, I have written it all down,' he would answer." Stanislavsky admitted to being slightly confounded by Chekhov's plays; he said that when he went to produce The Sea Gull, he didn't know how to proceed, the words were too simple.

Even if Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko failed to fully appreciate Chekhov's vision, Uncle Vanya was much better received than its earlier incarnation...