After seeing
The Cherry Orchard last night
at the Jungle Theater, in partnership with The Moving Company (aka MoCo), I have now seen all four of late 19th Century Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's major plays (which also include
The Seagull,
Uncle Vanya, and
The Three Sisters). And I find that I appreciate his work more each time I see it. All four plays share a few common themes - large and complicated families, social commentary on the Russia of the day that somehow is still relevant today, and a mix of humor and sadness. Chekhov famously referred to
The Cherry Orchard as a comedy, but the first director thought of it as a tragedy. In short, it's both - like life. Maybe that's the reason for my growing appreciation; Chekhov so beautifully depicts the joys and the sorrows of being human in a changing and challenging world. This production of
The Cherry Orchard, with the combined talents of MoCo and the Jungle, is so lovely, so thoughtfully constructed with every attention to detail, so beautifully performed by the seven-person cast, and so gorgeously sad.
See it at Jungle Theater in Uptown through November 2.
MoCo's artistic leadership team Steven Epp, Dominique Serrand, and Nathan Keepers created this adaptation (based on a translation by Paul Schmidt). Not having seen the play before, I'm not sure what exactly they changed, but some characters seem to have been eliminated or combined, the story condensed into a tight two hours. And the language feels modern and understandable, without being completely foreign to the time and place. Another thing Chekhov's plays have in common are large casts of characters with unfamiliar Russian names and multiple nicknames, but here just seven actors play all of the characters, most playing more than one. It takes a minute to figure out who all these people are and how they're related, and to keep their names straight, but once you do it's a very relatable story of a family in crisis. Liubov has returned to the family home with her daughter Anya after experiencing several tragedies. There she is reunited with her brother Gayev and her adopted daughter Varya who is managing the increasingly run-down estate, which includes the famed cherry orchard. Family friend Lopakhin, the son of a family servant who is now a wealthy businessman, advises them to partition the land for development, or they will lose everything. Liubov can't bring herself to destroy her beloved home and orchard, so the estate goes up for auction, and is indeed sold, sending the family out into the world to find new lives elsewhere.
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Liubov (Tracey Maloney) and her two daughters
(Elizabeth Efteland and Kenzi Allen, photo by Lauren B. Photography) |
Dominique Serrand directs the piece, as he does most MoCo productions, but in this case he also steps onto the stage to play Uncle Gayev. I don't think I've ever seen him on stage before, and he's quite charming as this beloved and somewhat befuddled brother and uncle. Nathan Keepers is wonderfully sympathetic as Lopakhin, who obviously loves this family, while also revealing the shrewd businessman. Tracey Maloney gives one of her best performances (of many great ones) as Liubov, alternately content and happy and loving, and absolutely devastated, literally sobbing on the ground unable to get up. Kenzi Allen is as graceful as always as Anya, floating across the stage barefoot as the once carefree teenage girl, forced to grow up. Elizabeth Efteland gives two polar opposite performances as the responsible and practical daughter Varya, and a young man who is a family friend. Also great are Sophina Saggau as the servant Dunyasha and Randy Reyes as the hapless clerk, comically lamenting, "something bad happens to me every day." The whole cast performs with physicality, including physical comedy, really giving these characters dynamic life on stage.
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Lopakhin (Nathan Keepers) and Liubov (Tracey Maloney)
(photo by Lauren B. Photography) |
How do you represent a fading Russian country home on stage? With projections, a choice that works very well because it allows us to see images of various rooms in the home that were once grand, but are now falling apart. And it almost gives the play a dreamlike quality as we watch these gorgeously rundown rooms fade into each other. Practical set pieces include only a couple of chairs, sometimes covered with tarps, a tea set, and other minimal props for a sparse look that also fits the fading once-great home. The costume design also fits in this faded glory theme, with the exception of three super chic and almost flashy suits for the wealthy Lopakhin, putting him at a class above. The other characters are dressed in muted shades of clothing that are specific to each character, including a lovely white dress with a tulle skirt for Liubov, and a black coat with patchwork flowers. (Scenic and projections design by Dominique Serrand, costume design by Sonya Berlovitz, lighting design by Marcus Dilliard.)
It isn't hard to see the similarities between turn of the century Russia and our current world. The play depicts class differences, people struggling to pay their mortgage and keep their family home, and a few wealthy people buying up all the property. There are several moments and lines in the play which feel very timely and relevant. But mostly, it's a bittersweet story about humans being human, dealing with life's difficulties.
