Synopses & Reviews
A study of the performance history of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard.
Synopsis
One of the greatest modern plays, The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov is a poignant comedy about a family losing its ancestral home. This study examines a wide range of performances, from the 1904 premiere at Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theatre to experimental productions worldwide a century later.
Synopsis
First performed in 1904 by the Moscow Art Theatre, not long before the Russian Revolution, The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov is a poignant comedy about a family losing its ancestral home. Subsequent directors have interpreted this landmark play from a wide range of political and aesthetic perspectives. This study examines the play and a variety of important performances from its first century of existence, and explores the way different artists, periods and cultures have reinvented Chekhov's comedy of failure and hope.
Table of Contents
Introduction; 1. The Cherry Orchard: text and performance; 2. The Moscow Art Theatre production, 1904; 3. Russian and Soviet performances, 1904-1953; 4. The Cherry Orchard in English: early productions; 5. The Cherry Orchard at mid-century: Barrault, Saint-Denis, Strehler; 6. Radical revisions, 1975-1977; 7. Brook and Stein, 1981-1997; 8. The Cherry Orchard after one hundred years; Works cited.