“The Cherry Orchard”

[rating=4]I guess it was over 100 years ago that Anton Chekhov wrote his last play, “The Cherry Orchard”. In his mind, the play was a comedy, yet Stanislavsky, the director, saw it as a tragedy. Those of you who are familiar with my reviews and radio show know that I continue to express that seeing a live play is unique and different on each occasion. Each director interprets the story in his or her own way! Every actor develops their character in their own way, and in fact, a different set or stage can make a difference.

If you are one that loves Chekhov and feels it should be done with very little humor, you might find this marvelous production unsettling. If you are one that hated to see his plays, you might find a whole new perspective and a love for the thoughts and ideas of this wonderful writer.

“The Cherry Orchard” is a story about a country estate that has owners who are in deep debt. While the estate has been in the family for decades and the family is quite attached to it, there will be an auction to bring them out of debt and they will be forced to leave and start anew.

To be clear, this is a different era and a different Russia. In this period, Russia was a combination of areas that we might recall as The Soviet Union, but it certainly was not the Russia of today. In this play, we meet the workers at the estate and orchard as well as the owners. They are what were called “serfs” that had at one time been slaves of a different type than we are used to but when abolition came, many stayed on with the families that they had been with all their lives.

What happens in this story is in some ways the fall of nobility allowing all to be equal. While, in reality, this is not the case, to many it seemed as if with change might come what would be called equality. Over the years, I have seen many adaptations of this classic. One of them, moved to Mexico and takes the story into the Hispanic community.

Directed by Robert Falls, who up until now has never directed this play, using his own adaptation, he has assembled an all-star cast of Chicago talent to bring this story to life, “his way”!

Todd Rosenthal’s set is divine, with a room that moves back and forth and the lighting (Keith Parham) is wonderful. The sound and music (Richard Woodbury) is well done, but I still feel that this venue could allow for having body microphones on the actors. They used to ask actors to project to the back row, but somehow, over the years, either the theaters are larger or the acoustics not as good. I think a mic will not take away from the story or the performance. By the way, Anna Kuzmanic’s costumes were perfect.

As previously mentioned, this is an all-star cast led by Kate Fry as Lyubov, the owner of the estate. Many years ago, when Fry appeared in a mini version of “My Fair Lady” I said that she was a star just waiting to be found. She was and is! Watching her on stage is a delight and young actors can learn a great deal from doing so. Kareem Bandealy as Yermolai is terrific. He is the hope for bailing her out to save the property, and then more! Lyubov’s daughters, Anya (Raven Whitely) and Varya (Alejandra Escalanta) are delightful. One is natural, the other adopted, so their perspective about the property is just a little different.

Christopher Donahue plays Lyubov’s brother and Francis Guinan does a standout job as Firs, the house butler. The other players that truly stand out are Janet Ulrich Brooks handling what appears to be several roles, one of which is quite magical, Matt DeCarlo, Stephen Cefalu, Will Allen,  and Amanda Drinkall.

Run Time is 1 1/2 hours for Act 1 and another 1 hour for Act 2- with a 15 minute intermission. FYI- The original play is 4 acts and I think closer to three hours not counting intermissions.