Unlike the philipsad I was not forced at gunpoint to read this. I went willingly to see it when a local company was having an international theatre festival and even at 12 it struck me as powerful, moving, deeply honest, relevant and affecting. Years later I saw a television adaptation, still as powerful though lacking some nuances and minor sub-plots. Then I bought this radio adaptation which I found to be very much abridged, so that some of the power was lost. But the acting was still top notch for the medium.
I wonder why those who commented on the only "review" were - I think - genuine in their appreciation for the play but not enough to save it from having an average rating (out of just the one person with an ax to grind but no idea of what he was writing about) by writing another review. Could it be that amazon no longer accepts all reviews? Surely not. If it turns out to be so I'll post this as a "comment" to sadphil's review even he's not worth it with his violent tendencies and mental instability. Chekov is worthy of being saved from this sort of groundless dumbing down by dumb people. I use dumb as an euphemism, of course.
I don't much care for amazon's policy of having this single review present on different versions/edition of the play. I', m all for pitying the stupid but I have no sympathy for major corporations validating their narrow-mindedness.