Problems/Challenges

Are there problems with the script that you would have to overcome?

Integrating and clearly presenting all the information from the text will require diligence. Chekhov is generous in supplying us with plenty of information about the world of The Cherry Orchard. This places a great burden to express many facets of the world of the play. Society, Economy, and Previous Action dwarf the other Given Circumstances in forcing the action in the play. However, Time, Religion, and Politics push hard too. It would be easy to ignore all the historical hoopla of Russian political strife in favor of the more immediately accessible social and financial themes. This would do a disservice, as would ignoring the Religious ramifications the play offers. Lyubov clearly presents a god who harshly punishes her for her indiscretions. This ties directly to what may be the most significant aspect of the world of the play and the most difficult to translate to American audiences: Place. Russia. Brrr. Cough. Lyubov believed in a hard god because she lived in a hard place.

And here’s the real challenge ---

The Cherry Orchard doesn’t read funny to Americans and finding the frivolity in the big mess of Lyubov’s agony is quite a task. We understand the source of tragedy in the play (loss, loss, oh --- and more loss) but most audiences have a hard time grasping the daily level of sheer hardship that turn of the century Russia offered up and how blessed the characters are to simply breathe, much less mourn for a long dead child or plan a budget. The humor, dark as it is, flows out of the characters’ odd, nonchalant responses to their impending but theoretically manageable poverty and their overaction and melancholy towards the things over which they have no control.

In a practical sense, there are challenges in producingThe Cherry Orchard. Assuming a budget exists to satisfy myriad design needs and the paying of sixteen or so actors, the trickiness shifts to our expectations about how this kind of play is presented. The trappings of a period piece (big skirts, classical music, very long names) can augment the product but hamper the process. A real challenge, even for the best artist, is to bust open all that frou and connect with the stuff that is immediate and visceral--- what we know in our heads, hearts, and souls.

That's a lot to manage but as my favorite teacher used to say,

"There are no easy explanations for anything important."