Yet this is not surprising, coming from a director of Ukrainian descent, in a production starring Soviet dissident Mikhail Baryshnikov as the servant Firs.
This makes The Orchard a painfully relevant reading of Chekhov. I instantly sensed that it is this nationalistic, militaristic force that is to be feared. "Intelligentsia!" he calls them dismissively, picking up a volume of Chekhov buried under the layer of blue petals that cover the stage. Dressed in military uniform, he appears for a short scene and everybody cowers from his blatant demands in Russian. Yet the threat to Ranyevskaya’s family comes not from Lopakhin but from the “outside,” embodied in the (traditionally minuscule) role of the tramp, here called “passerby” (Ilya Volok). The snowglobe-like world of the estate (production design by Anna Fedorova) is about to shatter. He does not represent an opposition to the “old” world, but is deeply intertwined with it and would love to preserve these emotional ties through his love for Ranyevskaya. But in Golyak’s version, Lopakhin is neither. And it is Lopakhin, who himself comes from a long lineage of serfs working the estate, who ends up buying the orchard.Īcross the various productions of The Cherry Orchard, Lopakhin is alternately portrayed as a hero (a representative of the new class of working entrepreneurs) or a villain (a greedy nouveau riche with no respect for tradition). Delusional matriarch Lyubov Ranevskaya (Jessica Hecht), who is supported by her immature brother Leonid Gayev (Mark Nelson), refuses to turn the unprofitable property into a business enterprise as suggested by Yermolai Lopakhin (Nael Nacer). The house and the title to their cherry orchard are being auctioned off to cover their debt. The Cherry Orchard, a play about the fallen Russian aristocracy, follows a single family returning back to their estate after five years of living abroad. Aside from futuristic production design, robots, and a whole other virtual experience happening simultaneously, The Orchard makes Chekhov’s play strikingly relevant in light of the current war in Ukraine. Director Igor Golyak may have edited out a few minor characters and added and rearranged some text, but he has handled the source material with much respect and deep intuitive understanding.
In The Orchard, produced by the Boston-based Arlekin Players at the Baryshnikov Art Center, one will still unmistakably recognize that original masterpiece of the early 20th century, The Cherry Orchard. Photo by Pavel Antonov.īOTTOM LINE: This adaptation of Chekhov’s play, featuring memorable human and robotic performances, makes poignant political commentary. Juliet Brett and John McGinty in The Orchard. Produced by Arlekin Players Theatre and (zero-G) Labīaryshnikov Arts Center, 450 West 37th Street Based on The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov Directed by Igor Golyak
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