Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), Russian physician, dramatist and author, is considered to be one of the greatest writers of short stories and modern drama. Born in Taganrog, a port town near the Black Sea, he attended medical school at Moscow University. He began writing to supplement his income, writing short humorous sketches of contemporary Russian life. A successful literary careered followed, before his premature death of TB at the age of 44. He is best-remembered for his four dramatic masterpieces: The Seagull (1896), Uncle Vanya (1899), Three Sisters (1901) and The Cherry Orchard (1904). Anya Reiss wrote her first play when she was 14, as a member of the Royal Court Theatre's Young Wrtiers' Programme. Her debut play, Spur of the Moment (written when she was 17) opened at the Royal Court Theatre in 2010. Anya won the Most Promising Playwright Award at the 2010 Evening Standard Awards, Best New Play at the 2010 TMA Awards and Most Promising Playwright at the 2010 Critics' Circle Awards.

He latest play, The Acid Test , opened at the Royal Court in May 2011 and received rave reviews. She also contributed to the Bush Theatre's Sixty Six Books in 2011 and the Old Vic's Children's Monologues in 2010. She has also written the play Forty Five Minutes for the 2013 National Theatre Connections.