Why was Anton Chekhov dissatisfied with some Moscow Art Theatre productions of his plays?

Anton Chekhov was often dissatisfied with the Moscow Art Theatre productions of his plays because he felt the directors and producers treated his work with excessive solemnity.1

While the theatre was celebrated for its naturalistic style, Chekhov consistently maintained that his mature dramas were comedies rather than tragedies. He became distressed when productions overemphasized the characters' complaints about the boredom and futility of their lives, as he desired his work to be performed with the "lightest possible touch".1

Specifically, Chekhov felt that the productions were not "natural and nondeclamatory enough," even though the theatre was known for moving away from the overhistrionic style of the time. He famously insisted that his play The Cherry Orchard was "a comedy, in places even a farce," and he feared that oversolemnity could ruin plays like Three Sisters. Despite the artistic success of his collaboration with Konstantin Stanislavsky, Chekhov remained frustrated that his vision for a lighter, more nuanced interpretation was rarely realized on stage.12