About the Playwright(s)

Neil Simon
  Neil Simon is considered by many to be the most prolific and successful playwright of the 20th century. Born July 4, 1927, he grew up in Washington Heights at the northen tip of Manhattan, New York. He is the author of over 30 plays and numerous screenplays. He is known primarily for his comedies which relate the follies and neuroses of modern urban life in tightly crafted one-line littered comedic plays. His authobiographical trilogy: Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound brought him new recognition as a serious playwright. And his play Lost in Yonkers was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. During the 1966-67 Broadway season he had four plays running simultaneously. He is known to colleagues and friends as "Doc".

Anton Pavlovic Chekhov
(1860-1904) 
 Anton Chekhov, son of a grocer and grandson of a serf, turned to writing in 1880 as a means of supporting himself and his family while he attended medical school. His early works were sketches, topical commentaries, parodies and short comic pieces. Upon receiving his medical degree in 1884, he decided to devote himself entirely to literature. Sometimes referred to as "the Russian Shakespeare" Chekhov is knwn primarily for his four major plays The Seagull, The Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard and Uncle Vanya in which he laid bare humanity's deepest yearnings and foibles in poignant dramatic terms.