THE CHERRY ORCHARD - CONTEXT

THE CHERRY ORCHARD

TEASER POSTER

CHRISTMAS

The play was written in 1903 by playwright Anton Chekhov. That was Anton's last written play. It opened in January 1904 - 6 months before his death. It's both a comedy and a tragedy or a "tra-medy". The play influenced some playwrights including my personal favourite: Arthur Miller. At some points, I keep hearing about Eugene O'Neill.

I have been cast in this play with an unannounced/undisclosed role. I have read the entire script and it is horrifying and funny at the same time. To be honest, I have an on-off sense of humour but I was blown away.

Act I pans out the atmosphere of the environment of the play. This play is set in 1800s Russia. It opens at dawn, in the month of May, inside Madame Ranevsky's estate. The acts are not divided into scenes, although the entrances and exits of different characters delineate distinct moments of action.

I'm starting to admire doing period projects because it feels like time traveling and experiencing that life and learning how life was back then. I went to 1800s USA in The Crucible and it wasn't fun. I went to the 1950s and 1960s in Grease and Hairspray. That was fun. 

Act II opens in the outdoors, in the summertime. The set consists of a bench; the town in visible in the background. Charlotte, Yasha and Dunyasha are sitting on the bench; Ephikhodof is standing, playing a guitar. Charlotte is dressed for hunting, and is cleaning her gun. She meditates out loud on her past; she is an orphan who spent her childhood performing tricks in county fairs, and she describes her continuing feelings of isolation.

Act III is set inside the estate, during a party in August on the day of the auction of the cherry orchard. Music is heard. Pishtchik, Charlotte, Trophimof, Madame Ranevsky, Anya, Barbara, and Dunyasha enter in the background, with assorted guests, and dance the grand-rond. Firs serves drinks. Pishtchik and Trophimof come into a sitting area and Pishtchik complains about his money troubles dozes from time to time. Barbara comes into the sitting room and Trophimof teases her, calling her Madame Lopakhin. She is angry, both at the joke, and at the expense the party represents. She leaves, and Trophimof comments to Pishtchik that Pishtchik could have done great things in his life with all the energy he has devoted to scrounging for money to pay his loans. Pishtchik agrees, and falls into a momentary panic, thinking he has lost his purse, which he quickly recovers.

In the final act, Act IV, the scene opens in October, in the same room as Act I, but now the furniture is piled in a corner. Gayef and Madame Ranevsky stand outside, saying good-bye to the peasants. Madame Ranevsky gives them her purse, and Gayef chides her. They go into another room, and Lopakhin attempts to call them back to have some champagne, held by Yasha. They will not have any, and Yasha drinks the champagne instead, criticizing its quality as he sips, while Lopakhin defends its worth.

Overall, in the premise/synopsis/plot summary, The Cherry Orchard describes the lives of a group of Russians in the wake of the Liberation of the Serfs. The action takes place over the course of five or six months, but the histories of the characters are so complex that in many ways, it feels like the story just takes place a few years earlier.

What I really loved about the play are the themes and I inherited a few while reading the script.

• Indirect Action
• Mixing of Genres
• Symbolism
• Irony & Blindness
• Social Change & Progress
• Independence, Liberation & Freedom