Like Anton Chekhov, the Russian playwright and short-story teller to whom she is so often compared, she alchemised ordinary lives into great literature.

ECONOMIST: Eudora Welty

Countless modern writers have been influenced by Anton Chekhov's short stories and plays, which renounce plot-based structure, concentrating instead on the quasiabstract sketching of character and mood.

WSJ: The Seductive Lure of Abstraction | Sightings by Terry Teachout

In 1998, for instance, Brian Friel wrote an adaptation of "Uncle Vanya" in which Anton Chekhov's quintessentially Russian tale of impoverished aristocrats at bay is translated into a subtly Irish-accented version of English in which "Well, I wish you all the best of luck!"

WSJ: Tuning Up a Masterpiece | Sightings by Terry Teachout

Durang flings all kinds of references into his word processor: Angelina Jolie, Snow White, Maggie Smith, global warming, Norma Desmond, William Penn, "Peter Pan, " the HBO show "Entourage, " Lindsay Lohan, ancient Greek drama, voodoo and, as the title suggests, a big dollop of Anton Chekhov.

WSJ: Review: Durang's 'Vanya and Sonia' a zany joy