Demonstrating a commitment to the giants of modern theatre, the Lyric launched a double bill of work by Chekhov and Strindberg in March 1973. A Swan Song, one of Chekhov's lesser known plays was presented as a curtain-raiser to Strindberg's A Dream Play.

Neither piece was the obvious choice of play from these two great modern playwrights, often credited with the birth of naturalism in the theatre.  The Chekhov is a modest one-act play for two actors, very different to his heavily populated later works of longing. Unlike the celebrated naturalism of Strindberg's masterpiece Miss Julie, this earlier play, as it's title suggests, belongs to the world of dreams.  It is an expressionistic, experimental work. Together these two small experiments by two of the great figures in modern theatre represent a bold and adventurous exploration of the history and breadth of great European theatre.