The Cherry Orchard ( Russian : Вишнёвый сад , romanized : Vishnyovyi sad ) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov . Written in 1903, it was first published by Znaniye (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg , via A.F. Marks Publishers . On 17 January 1904, it opened at the Moscow Art Theatre in a production directed by Konstantin Stanislavski . Chekhov described the play as a comedy , with some elements of farce , though Stanislavski treated it as a tragedy . Since its first production, directors have contended with its dual nature. It is often identified as one of the three or four outstanding plays by Chekhov, along with The Seagull , Three Sisters , and Uncle Vanya .
43-410: Cherry Orchard may refer to: The Cherry Orchard , a play by Anton Chekhov. The Cherry Orchard (1974 film) , an adaptation on Australian television, starring Googie Withers The Cherry Orchard (1981 film) , an adaptation on British television, starring Judi Dench The Cherry Orchard (1990 film) , a Japanese manga series about a production of
86-634: A drama group in a girls-only private high school putting on a production of The Cherry Orchard . The play has a role in the comedy film Henry's Crime (2011). Robert Falls Robert Falls (born March 2, 1954) is an American theater director and the former artistic director of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois . Robert Arthur Falls was born March 2, 1954, in Springfield, IL to Arthur Joseph Falls and Nancy (Stribling) Falls. He grew up in
129-453: A former serf ; the family leaves to the sound of the cherry orchard being cut down. The story presents themes of cultural futility – both the futile attempts of the aristocracy to maintain its status and of the bourgeoisie to find meaning in its new-found materialism. It dramatizes the socioeconomic forces in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, including the rise of the middle class after
172-603: A natural area preserve in Virginia See also [ edit ] Orchard (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Cherry Orchard . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cherry_Orchard&oldid=1111308821 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
215-448: A new life. The two depart for the river as Varya calls in the background. It is the end of August, and Ranevskaya's party is held. Musicians play as the family and guests drink and entertain themselves. It is also the day of the auction; Gayev has received a paltry amount of money from his and Ranevskaya's aunt, and the family members, despite the general merriment around them, are anxious while they wait for news. Varya worries about paying
258-649: A new production of Don Giovanni for Lyric Opera of Chicago, and again in 2020 for Dallas Opera. In 2015, Falls was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame for his achievements as a Broadway director and pioneering artist in the American theater. Additional honors include: Savva Morozov Diamond Award (Moscow Art Theatre), O’Neill Medallion (Eugene O’Neill Society), Human Spirit Award (Chicago Institute of Psychoanalysis), Governor's Award for Outstanding Contributions by an Individual Artist (Illinois Arts Council), "Chicagoan of
301-960: A rural farming community in Ashland, IL. His family moved to Champaign when he was 12, and not long afterward to suburban Chicago, where Robert attended high school. In 1976, he received his BFA in Directing and Playwriting at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, after which he briefly studied acting with Edward Kaye-Martin in New York. Falls soon returned to the Midwest to direct his U of I production of Michael Weller’s Moonchildren for Apollo Productions in Chicago. Moonchildren‘s success earned Falls his first Joseph Jefferson Award, and when his 1977 production of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men at Wisdom Bridge Theatre landed him
344-495: A second Jeff Award, the company hired Falls, age 23, to be its artistic director. Under Falls’s leadership, Wisdom Bridge became known for its innovative interpretations and made a significant contribution to off-Loop theatre. Among the plays Falls directed while there were Arthur Kopit’s Wings (1979), Tom Stoppard’s Travesties (1980), Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children (1981), Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire (1982), an adaptation of Jack Abbott’s letters, In
387-589: A special award in 2023. From 1986 to 2022, Robert Falls served as the Artistic Director of Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. In 35 years of leadership, the Tony-award winner brought international prominence to the Goodman with ground-breaking productions; built a state-of-the-art theater and education complex; established acclaimed community programs; and turned Chicago’s largest not-for-profit theater into one of
430-412: A tearful tone; in the second act, there are tears in their eyes, but the tone is happy and lively. Why did you speak in your telegram about so many tears in my play? Where are they? ... Often you will find the words "through tears," but I am describing only the expression on their faces, not tears. And in the second act there is no graveyard." The playwright's wife Olga Knipper played Madame Ranevskaya in
473-404: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages The Cherry Orchard The play revolves around an aristocratic Russian landowner who returns to her family estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. Unresponsive to offers to save the estate, she allows its sale to the son of
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#1732855656210516-462: Is heavily in debt. They all go to bed with the hope that the estate will be saved and the cherry orchard preserved. Trofimov stares after the departing Anya in adoration. Act II takes place outdoors near the orchard. Yepikhodov and Yasha vie for the affection of Dunyasha by singing and playing guitar while Charlotta soliloquizes about her life. In Act I it was revealed that Yepikhodov proposed to Dunyasha at Easter; however, she has become infatuated with
559-444: Is the purchaser, and intends to chop down the orchard. Ranevskaya, distraught, clings to Anya, who reassures her that the future will be better now. Several weeks later the family's belongings are being packed as the family prepares to leave the estate. Trofimov enters, and he and Lopakhin exchange opposing world views. Lopakhin does not propose to Varya. Anya enters and reprimands Lopakhin for ordering his workers to begin chopping down
602-481: Is unable to find his independence and freedom; Lopakhin was able to "free" himself, in the sense that he was able to find motivation to keep on going. Even though the two are polar opposites on the social ladder, they both have internal struggles regarding what their life is going to be after the orchard is chopped down. The play opened on 17 January 1904, the director's birthday, at the Moscow Art Theatre under
645-510: The Tsarist officials. Cherry trees themselves are often seen as symbols of sadness or regret at the passing away of a certain situation or of the times in general. The idea of independence and freedom is relevant to the positions of Firs and Lopakhin. Firs has been with the estate for decades, and all he has ever known is to serve his masters. When the news of the orchard being sold breaks, Firs seems unfazed, and continues to carry out his duties, but
688-628: The abolition of serfdom in the mid-19th century and the decline of the power of the aristocracy. Widely regarded as a classic of 20th-century theatre , the play has been translated and adapted into many languages and produced around the world. Major theatre directors have staged it, including Charles Laughton , Peter Brook , Andrei Șerban , Jean-Louis Barrault , Tyrone Guthrie , Katie Mitchell , Robert Falls , and Giorgio Strehler . It has influenced many other playwrights, including Eugene O'Neill , George Bernard Shaw , David Mamet , and Arthur Miller . The spelling of character names depends on
731-608: The transliteration used. The play opens on a day in May in the nursery of Lyubov Andreyevna Ranevskaya's home in the provinces of Russia, at the start of the 20th century. Ranevskaya has been living in France since her young son drowned. After she had tried to kill herself, Ranevskaya's 17-year-old daughter Anya and Anya's governess Charlotta Ivanovna have brought her home to Russia, accompanied by Yasha, Ranevskaya's valet. Upon returning, they are met by Lopakhin, Dunyasha, Varya (who has overseen
774-499: The "most powerful" individuals in the American theater. Two of Mr. Falls’ most highly acclaimed Broadway productions, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night (first staged at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre) were honored with seven Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. Other noteworthy Broadway productions include Conor McPherson’s Shining City (Tony Award nomination); Eric Bogosian’s Talk Radio (Tony Award nomination); The Rose Tattoo at Circle in
817-729: The Belly of the Beast: Letters from Prison (1983), and Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1985). He led Wisdom Bridge for eight years before being named the Goodman Theatre’s Artistic Director in 1986. Hailed as “Chicago’s most essential director” (Chicago Tribune), Tony Award-winner Robert Falls’ theater and opera work over four decades has included ground-breaking new plays, reimagined classics, large-scale musical works and more. He has been featured in American Theatre magazine as one of
860-844: The Body; Three Sisters; Uncle Vanya; Pamplona; Eric Bogosian’s Griller; Steve Tesich’s The Speed of Darkness and On the Open Road; John Logan’s Riverview: A Melodrama with Music; the world premiere of Arthur Miller’s final play Finishing the Picture; David Cale’s We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time; his own adaptation of The Seagull; his own adaptation of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People; the world premiere of Chilean novelist Roberto Bolaño’s epic work 2666, which Falls co-adapted and co-directed with Seth Bockley; and his own adaptation of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. Falls stepped down as Goodman Theatre Artistic Director at
903-542: The Brooklyn Academy of Music; Beth Henley’s The Jacksonian; Rebecca Gilman’s Swing State and Blue Surge; Nicky Silver’s The Food Chain; Eric Bogosian’s subUrbia at Lincoln Center Theater (Obie Award); and David Cale’s We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time and the Public Theater. His other honors for directing include a Helen Hayes Award (King Lear) and many Joseph Jefferson Awards. Falls made his operatic debut at
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#1732855656210946-529: The Goodman also received more than 160 Jeff Awards. Falls’s previous Goodman productions include, most notably, the Rodgers and Hart musical Pal Joey for which Falls wrote a new book; the American premiere of Alan Ayckbourn’s House and Garden; the world premiere of Richard Nelson’s Frank’s Home; Rebecca Gilman’s Swing State, Luna Gale, and Dollhouse; Adam Rapp’s The Sound Inside; King Lear; Measure for Measure; The Tempest; The Winter’s Tale; The Misanthrope; Landscape of
989-844: The Lyric Opera of Chicago with his 1993 production of Carlyle Floyd’s Susannah, starring Renee Fleming and Samuel Ramey. In 1996, he directed Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Consul for the Lyric Opera. His production of Susannah has also been performed at New York's Metropolitan Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Washington Opera, the Grand Théâtre de Genève in Switzerland, and the Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao, Spain. In 2019, he directed
1032-546: The Square (Tony Award nomination); Desire under the Elms; The Night of the Iguana; and Horton Foote’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Young Man from Atlanta. Falls’ Broadway production of Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, for which he also co-wrote the book, continues to be produced around the world. Falls’ Off-Broadway productions include The Iceman Cometh, starring Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy, for
1075-659: The Year" (Chicago magazine), Artistic Leadership Award (League of Chicago Theatres), election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts (Lake Forest College), Special Jeff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Theatre, Chicago Illini of the Year Award (University of Illinois), and in recognition of his visionary direction and impact on Chicago theater, the Joseph Jefferson Awards honored him with
1118-418: The abandoned house to die. He lies down and resigns himself to this fate. The sound of axes cutting down trees is heard off-stage. 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
1161-469: The cheap labor of slavery. The effect of these reforms was still being felt when Chekhov was writing forty years after the mass emancipation. Chekhov originally intended the play as a comedy (indeed, the title page of the work refers to it as such), and in letters noted that it is, in places, almost farcical. When he saw the original Moscow Art Theatre production directed by Konstantin Stanislavski , he
1204-466: The cherry orchard while the family is still there; Lopakhin apologises and rushes out to stop them for the time being, in the hopes that he will be somehow reconciled with the family. Charlotta enters, lost and in a daze, and insists that the family find her a new position. Ranevskaya bids her old life goodbye and leaves as the house is shut up forever. In the gloom, Firs wanders into the room and discovers that they have left without him and boarded him inside
1247-434: The cherry orchard, which is nationally known for its size. Ranevskaya is enjoying the view of the orchard as day breaks, when she is surprised by Peter Trofimov, a young student and former tutor of Ranevskaya's dead son, Grisha. Trofimov had insisted on seeing Ranevskaya upon her return, and she is grief-stricken at the reminder of this tragedy. After Ranevskaya retires for the evening, Anya confesses to Varya that their mother
1290-412: The delight and humour of everyone around. During their conversations, a disheveled beggar passes by; Ranevskaya gives him all her money, despite his protestations of Varya. Shaken by the disturbance, the family departs for dinner. Anya stays behind to talk with Trofimov, who disapproves of Varya, reassuring Anya that they are 'above love'. To impress Trofimov, Anya vows to leave the past behind her and start
1333-498: The direction of the actor-director Konstantin Stanislavski . During rehearsals, the structure of act two was re-written. Famously contrary to Chekhov's wishes, Stanislavski's version was, by and large, a tragedy. Chekhov disliked the Stanislavski production intensely, concluding that Stanislavski had "ruined" his play. In one of many letters on the subject, Chekhov would complain, "Anya, I fear, should not have any sort of tearful tone ... Not once does my Anya cry, and nowhere do I speak of
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1376-464: The estate in Ranevskaya's absence), Ranevskaya's brother Gayev, Boris Simeonov-Pishchik, Semyon Yepikhodov, and Firs. Lopakhin has come to remind Ranevskaya and Gayev that their estate, including the cherry orchard, will be auctioned soon to pay off the family's debts. He proposes to save the estate by allowing part of it to be developed into summer cottages; however, this would require the destruction of
1419-403: The fact that the house and orchard will be sold at auction. Ranevskaya shows him a telegram she has received and reveals that her former lover is ill and has begged her to return to Paris. She is seriously considering this, despite his cruel behaviour to her in the past. Trofimov is stunned at this; they argue about the nature of love and their respective experiences. Trofimov leaves, but falls down
1462-511: The late Brian Dennehy, his longtime collaborator, were presented on Broadway, as well as at the Stratford Festival and at Dublin's Abbey Theatre. Productions include Galileo (1986); The Iceman Cometh (1990 and 2012, with Nathan Lane); A Touch of the Poet (1996); Death of A Salesman (1999); Long Day’s Journey into Night (2001); Hughie (2004); and Desire Under the Elms (2009). Under Falls' leadership,
1505-487: The more "cultured" Yasha. Charlotta leaves so that Dunyasha and Yasha might have some time alone, but that is interrupted when they hear their employer coming. Yasha shoos Dunyasha away to avoid being caught, and Ranevskaya, Gayev, and Lopakhin appear, once more discussing the uncertain fate of the cherry orchard. Soon Anya, Varya, and Trofimov arrive as well. Lopakhin teases Trofimov for being a perpetual student, and Trofimov espouses his philosophy of work and useful purpose, to
1548-539: The musicians and scolds their neighbor Pishchik for drinking, Dunyasha for dancing, and Yepikhodov for playing billiards. Charlotta performs magic tricks. Ranevskaya scolds Trofimov for his teasing of Varya, whom he refers to as "Madame Lopakhin". She then urges Varya to marry Lopakhin, but Varya demurs, reminding her that it is Lopakhin's duty to ask for her hand in marriage, not the other way around. She says that if she had money she would move as far away as possible. Alone with Ranevskaya, Trofimov insists that she finally face
1591-558: The nation’s premier arts organizations. Under his leadership, the Goodman received the 1992 Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater and, in 2003, was named “the number one regional theater in the U.S.” by Time magazine. During his tenure at the Goodman, Falls directed more than 40 productions and produced/co-produced hundreds of plays including more than 150 world premieres. Additionally, he helped transfer more than two dozen shows to Broadway which earned over 20 Tony Awards. His productions of Eugene O'Neill plays, in partnership with
1634-584: The new Russia. Her petulant refusal to accept the truth of her past, in both life and love, is her downfall throughout the play. She ultimately runs between her life in Paris and in Russia (she arrives from Paris at the start of the play and returns there afterwards). She is a woman who lives in an illusion of the past (often reliving memories about her son's death, etc.). The speeches by the student Trofimov, attacking intellectuals were later seen as early manifestations of Bolshevik ideas and his lines were often censored by
1677-449: The original Moscow Art Theatre production, as well as in the 300th production of the play by the theatre in 1943. Although critics at the time were divided in their response to the play, the debut was a resounding theatrical success, and the play was almost immediately presented in many of the important provincial cities. This success was not confined only to Russia, as the play was soon seen abroad with great acclaim as well. Shortly after
1720-487: The play The Cherry Orchard (1999 film) , an international coproduction of the play, starring Charlotte Rampling A cherry orchard , for the cultivation of cherries Cherry Orchard, Dublin , Ireland, a suburb Cherry Orchard F.C. , an association football club in the Dublin suburb Park West and Cherry Orchard railway station , a railway station in the Dublin suburb Cherry Orchard Bog Natural Area Preserve ,
1763-462: The play's debut, Chekhov departed for Germany due to his worsening health, and by July 1904, he was dead. The modest and newly urbanized audiences attending pre-revolutionary performances at S. V. Panin's People's House in Saint Petersburg reportedly cheered as the cherry orchard was felled on stage. The Japanese manga Sakura no Sono (1985–86) and its live-action film adaptations are about
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1806-425: The stairs off-stage and is carried in by the others. Ranevskaya laughs and forgives him for his folly and the two reconcile. Anya enters with a rumour that the estate has been sold. Lopakhin arrives with Gayev, both of them exhausted from the trip and the day's events. Gayev is distant and goes to bed without saying a word of the outcome of the auction. When Ranevskaya asks who bought the estate, Lopakhin reveals that he
1849-414: Was horrified to find that the director had moulded the play into a tragedy. Ever since that time, productions have had to struggle with this dual nature of the play (and of Chekhov's works in general). Ranevskaya's failure to address the problems facing her estate and family means that she eventually loses almost everything, and her fate can be seen as a criticism of those people who are unwilling to adapt to
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