The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard (Вишневый сад or Vishniovy sad in Russian) is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Konstantin Stanislavski and within six months, Chekhov died of tuberculosis. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce, however, Stanislavski insisted on directing the play as a tragedy. Since this initial production, directors have had to contend with the dual nature of this play.
The play concerns an aristocratic Russian woman and her family as they return to the family's estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. While presented with options to save the estate, the family essentially does nothing and the play ends with the estate being sold and the family leaving to the sound of the cherry orchard being cut down. The story presents themes of cultural futility--both the futility of the aristocracy to maintain its status and the fultility of the bourgeosie to find meaning in its newfound materialism. In reflecting the socio-economic forces at work in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, including the rise of the middle class after the abolishment of the feudal system in the mid-19th century and the sinking of the aristocracy, the play reflects the forces at work around the globe in that period.
Since the first production at the Moscow Art Theatre, this play has been translated into many languages and produced around the world becoming a classic work of dramatic literature. Some of the major directors in the west have directed this play each interpreting the work differently. Some of these directors include Charles Laughton, Peter Brook, Eva LaGallienne, Jean-Louis Barrault and Giorgio Strehler. The play's influence has also been widely felt in dramatic works by many including Eugene O'Neill, George Bernard Shaw and Arthur Miller.
Synopsis
Act I
Act I opens in the early morning hours of a day in May in the nursery of Madame Ranevskaya's ancestral estate somewhere in the provinces of Russia just after the turn of the 20th Century. Lyubov Andreyevna Ranevskaya (Любовь Андреевна Раневская) returns to her country house with her 17-year old daughter Anya (Аня) and her German governess Charlotta Ivanova (Шарлотта Ивановна) from Paris where they have been living for the past five years. The trio is met by Varya (Варя), Mme. Ranevskaya's adopted daughter who has overseen the estate in her absence; Yermolai Alexeevich Lophakin (Лопахин Ермолай Алексеевич), a local merchant and family friend; Leonid Andreevich Gaev (Гаев Леонид Андреевич), Mme. Ranevskaya's brother; as well as members of the household staff including the old footman, Firs (Фирс).
Mme. Ranevskaya is reminded that the estate will be auctioned in August to pay the mortgage. Lophakin offers to lend Mme. Ranevskaya the money to cover the debt if she will allow part of the estate to be developed into summer cottages. However, this will incur the destruction of the famous cherry orchard which Mme. Ranevskaya states is nationally known. Other solutions to the debt are also proposed but nothing is resolved and the coversation is diverted to other topics.
Act II
Act II opens on a road bordering the cherry orchard in mid-summer. The estate is still in jeopardy but the family seems more concerned with courtships. A footman, Yasha (Яша), and the estate clerk Yepikhodov (Епиходов Семен Пантелеевич) are attempting to attract the attentions of the chambermaid Dunyasha (Дуняша). Varya tries to prevent a union between her sister Anya and Petya Trofimov (Трофимов Петр Сергеевич) who is a perpetual student and formerly the tutor to Mme. Ranevskaya's son Grisha (who drowned at age six). Varya is also the subject of rumours that she will be engaged to Lophakin. Lophakin tries to steer the conversation towards the business of the estate but Mme. Ranevskaya reveals that she is broke after spending her money on a lover in Paris. The old footman Firs speaks of the past on the estate before the emancipation of the serfs.
Act III
Act IV
They stay there for almost a year. Ranevskaya, Varya, and Anya live there with Ranyevskaya's brother, Gaev, a maid, and Dunyasha, while several others stay and visit throughout the play.
Ranevskaya's main problem is the lack of money that is very troublesome for her. Throughout the play there are various solutions suggested to her, but she doesn't do anything. The orchard is consequently sold in an auction to Yermolay Alekseyevich Lopakhin, a man whose ancestors were serfs on the property. In the end, the orchard is chopped down by Lopakhin.
Themes
One of the main themes of the play is the effect social change has on people. The emancipation of the serfs on 19 February, 1861 by Alexander II allowed former serfs to gain wealth and status while some aristocrats were becoming impoverished, unable to tend their estates without the cheap labour of slavery. The effect of these reforms were still being felt when Chekhov was writing forty years after the mass emancipation.
Ranevskaya's failure to address problems facing her estate and family mean that she eventually loses almost everything and her fate can been seen as a criticism of those people who are unwilling to adapt to the new Russia. The speeches by the student Trofimov, attacking intellectuals were later seen as early manifestations of Bolshevik ideas and his lines were often censored by the Tsarist officials. Cherry trees themselves are often seen as symbols of sadness or regret at the passing away of certain situation or of the times in general. This symbolism is particularly common in the Sakura (cherry blossoms) of Japanese culture.
Another idea, while the Marxist view of the play is certainly more popular, is that The Cherry Orchard was Chekhov's last hurrah; a tribute to himself if you will. Many of the characters in the play harken back to his earlier works and are based on people he knew in his own life. It should also be noted that his boyhood house was bought and torn down by a wealthy man that his mother had considered a friend. The breaking guitar string in acts 2 and 4 herald back to his earliest works. Finally the classic "loaded gun" that appears in many of Chekhov's plays appears here, but this is his only play in which a gun is shown but not fired.
Stage history
The playwright's wife Olga Knipper played Madame Ranevskaya in this production, as well as in the 300th production of the play by the theatre in 1943.