“Another triumph”
Chekhov was dying of consumption when he wrote The Cherry Orchard between March and October 1903. He died in 1904, the year of its first production, and in 1905 Russia experienced the abortive curtain-raiser to its 1917 Revolution. An age-old society was in the throes of disintegration. Chekhov presents a microcosm of that society in its final flickering of life before the long night of Communism. The estate-owning Madame Ranyevskaya and her brother Gayev, the representatives of the old order, are living in a political and social limbo.
In a world adrift, money is the only security, the only yardstick, and, never having had to think or worry about it all their lives, they find it almost impossible to adjust themselves to the peremptory demands this commodity is making on them. Since the freeing of the serfs, all is confusion. Old rules of behaviour no longer apply, new ones have not yet been established, so anything goes. Lopakhin's business acumen has brought him riches, but he remains genuinely fond of his family's previous 'owners'. Yasha, Mme. Ranyevskaya's man-servant, is content to live on his misress's remaining wealth, and enjoy the life of an idle opportunist. Dunyasha, the maid, cannot decide whether she's 'upstairs' or 'downstairs'. Only the aged Firs clings to the safe, known world of serfdom.
Cast:
Rehearsal Photographs:
