The Festivities
The Festivities () is a one-act farce by Anton Chekhov. Written in December 1891, it was first published in May 1892, and is based on his short story "A Defenceless Creature" (Беззащитное существо, 1887). Synopsis. A bank manager named Andrey Andreyevitch Shipuchin prepares to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the branch office he manages. He arranges for a series of tributes to his supposed expertise, but chaos ensues when his wife returns from a visit to her mother's and a crazy woman comes looking for a job for her husband.