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It is against this backdrop that Chekov's real talent, comes to the fore: his incredible ability to graphically develop characters and analyze them psychologically with a fine-tooth comb. This, Chekov's last play, is the story of Madame Ranyevskaya's family, which lost its wealth, and an estate that included a cherry orchard. Chekov demonstrates an uncanny ability to draw out the deepest images of personal psychological angst, and is almost comical in his analysis which is always exquisitely sensitive -even of the most serious of issues such as those that beset this wealthy Russian family. The subtext carries the story and is about how not to deal with existentialist stasis -- a state of being immobilized by the fear of change, and the complexity of the denial that under lay this fear. It is this fear and the symbolism it invokes that makes the play universal in its depiction of human fear, suffering, and inability to address change; for at one time or another, these too have engulfed us all. The underlying message is that "life must go on" whether or not we address reality squarely in the face, or allow it to hit us in the "behind" as we are on the way out the door, as it did Madame Ranyevskaya and her family, as her creditors came to take away all of her possessions, including her cherry orchard from under her. This is quintessentially Chekov; but it needs to be read several times to weave together the text with the subtext.Five stars.
With hundreds of versions of The Cherry Orchard available, you would think that Amazon would have the sense to name the translator. I think this is the same version used by LA Theater Works in which case the translator would be Michael Frayn.
And to make matters worse, the announcer claims it is recorded before a live audience. This is an abysmal production. It is patently not so, there are sound effects galore, including a pathetically obvious laugh track purported to be the audience but not one hint of an actor walking across the stage and, apart from the canned laughter, not a cough, murmur, shuffle or peep from the audience. To anyone outside of LA the accents will become tiresome (I'm so `stoopid'; in the `bairth'-house etc) and the translation and acting style make this play sound like an episode of a soap opera. The recording begins like so many audio books with an unnecessary spoken introduction - "The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov." (like if I was expecting Dolly Parton). Nice try LA Theatreworks, it might do for a bored 10th grader who is too lazy to read the text but the whole thing sounds like a bunch of second rate actors with no idea of what they doing. They might get walk-ons in The Bold and the Beautiful if they try harder but this fake acting in front of a fake audience is an insult.
The 'Cherry Orchard' is the symbol of this. Chekhov's plays work on many different levels. Often in Chekhov there is disillusionment and disappointment, misunderstanding and desire unrealized. Here it is of the Old Order passing and the coming of the new. Chekhov's art is an art of sadness and beauty, of cruelty and change , but above all of human character and feeling portrayed in complexity and contradiction- and in a language of poetic compression deep in feeling. Often too the characters have ideas and dreams about themselves which simply do not find their justification in the world.
The old order people, Ranskanaya her daughters and brother cling to the older world, refuse to sell it out by accepting the offer to build on it dachas, and connect it with the railway line. On the one it is the story of the characters' relationships to each other. And the purchase of it by the former serf Lopahin is the sign of the transition taking place in Russia. But in all this there is always interspersed moments of tenderness and poignancy, of delicate feeling, perceptions of beauty. On another level there are ' major themes'. But in the end the extravagance of Ranskaya is forced to yield, and the 'Cherry Orchard' is cut down.In the final moments of the play the elderly servant Firs, the true symbol of the one raised in the old order and too deeply connected to it, to ever leave it, lies down and seems to pass away.
It is basically about a rich family in Russia who are forced to sell their estate and cherry orchard because they have no money. I couldn't figure out whether this was a comedy or not. Altogether, it was fairly interesting, but confusing. It says at the beginning of the play that it is, but for the most part it seemed really depressing to me. I know technically you can't call it a tragedy because the heroine didn't cause her own downfall, but still, it most certainly was NOT a comedy.All that aside, I thought the play was fairly enjoyable. The character's names were so similar that I had to keep looking back to figure out who was who. Three stars.
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