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    The Cherry Orchard
    The Cherry Orchard
    The Cherry Orchard
    Ebook147 pages1 hour

    The Cherry Orchard

    By Anton Chekhov

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    • Originally premiered Off-Broadway with the Roundabout Theatre Company in the fall of 2016

    • Original production starred Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Lane

    • Karam won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play for his smash hit play The Humans

    • Karam has written two plays that were named finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama: The Humans in 2016 and Sons of Prophet in 2012

    • Karam received the 2016 Obie Award for Playwriting for his play The Humans.

    • The Humans won the 2016 New York Drama Critics Circle and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Play, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play.

    • Sons of the Prophet won the 2012 Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel and Hull-Warriner Awards for Best Play.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTheatre Communications Group
    Release dateApr 17, 2018
    ISBN9781559368728
    Author

    Anton Chekhov

    Anton Chekhov was born in 1860 in Southern Russia and moved to Moscow to study medicine. Whilst at university he sold short stories and sketches to magazines to raise money to support his family. His success and acclaim grew as both a writer of fiction and of plays whilst he continued to practice medicine. Ill health forced him to move from his country estate near Moscow to Yalta where he wrote some of his most famous work, and it was there that he married actress Olga Knipper. He died from tuberculosis in 1904.

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    Reviews for The Cherry Orchard

    3.5/5

    439 ratings12 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      I found it difficult to sympathize with any of the characters, even Lubov who had the most tragic background. As a tale of the decline of Russian nobility and rising of the former serfs into middle class, it was fairly effective but not entertaining. Perhaps I would like a stage production more...
    • 5/5
      This is a great edition; it has a short but thorough bio of Chekhov, an intro with some basic interpretation, and great notes throughout based on letter the author wrote to some of the original productions' principals.
    • 4/5
      Having already read Chekhov's Ivanov, I founded myself comparing the two as a bit and enjoying this play more. It's about a family who is losing their wealth and needs to sell their cherry orchard, and I thought that was much more relatable than the story of Ivanov.The one thing that I really enjoyed about this play was the sense of memory that I got while I was reading it. I think Chekhov did a good job of showing why this place was important to the family. I got a sense that there was a lot of sorrow about losing the orchard, but in some ways he very much incorporated the hope for the future which I enjoyed. Overall I'd say it's a really good story about family and we hold certain places dear to us. My only complaint is that at times the names got a bit confusing.
    • 2/5
      saw Anette Benning and Alfred Molin star in this play. not Chekhov's best but good times.
    • 3/5
      Nope.No likeable characters whatsoever, with a plot that I couldn't bring myself to care about at all. Gah.
    • 3/5
      I fell asleep twice while reading this play (and it's not that long). It felt so choppy, like there were 10 different conversations going on at the same time, none of them related. My interest picked up in the second half though, and I liked the ending. I'd love to experience this on stage and see if I came away with a better opinion of it.
    • 1/5
      Another example of how I'm usually disappointed when I listen to something that other people consider great, but which does not a priori sound appealing.This probably reveals me as a philistine, but I just couldn't found much of value in this. We have a bunch of upper-class Russian twits who think the world owes them a living, who do absolutely nothing of value to anyone, not even things of abstract value like art or science, and who are bitterly disappointed when the tragedy that everyone has been warning them about for years finally arrives and no deus ex machina saves them. The only character in the play I had the remotest sympathy for was the student who tells them to their faces that they are parasites and that their day is over, not that his warnings are heeded.Maybe this play is viewed in the same way as Gone with the Wind nostalgia --- everyone who pines for this better simpler way of life assumes that for some reason they're going to be part of the aristrocracy in this alternate world, not one of the lower classes.
    • 3/5
      Poor money management forces a family to sell its property including a large cherry orchard. Before closing the property, however, everyone returns to bid each other farewell. Comedic moments include a man who is totally obsessed with billiards and a bittersweet moment when they leave and lock in the old, faithful retainer. Job-lot!
    • 4/5
      Chekhov is always someone I grapple with from time to time before deciding what I really think of the play. This was good, but mildly pointless. I didn't feel changed or moved by reading it, and I wonder about what seeing it would have changed. It certainly would have a different feel to it in production than it did in reading.
    • 2/5
      De Kersentuin draait in wezen om de komst van het moderne, om verandering. Kracht van Tsjechov is montage, van gevoel naar gevoel, voor alles uitgesproken is, vb gebruik pauzes. Omstreden: drama of komedie, naturalistische of symbolische lectuur
    • 5/5
      This is a superb translation. It lifts right off the page. We are in turn of the century Russia but the characters feel contemporary without sounding anachronistic. Karam captures the tragic-comic quality of the original brilliantly.
    • 5/5
      This play is different every time I read it. When I was younger and still believed that my family's land would continue to be passed down the generations, it was tragic; when I had learned about the Japanese word "aware" it was beautiful; when I had learned something about how easily even clever women fall into traps and call them love, I wanted to believe somehow that Lyuba's generosity meant something anyway; as a young person of business I feared becoming Lopakhin with his, as it seemed to me, idealistic excuses for exploitation no different from those of the old aristocracy; after a few years of good fortune I looked less pityingly on old Pishtchik, whose attitude really isn't so absurd, though he may not be a gifted accountant.Through this reading, though, all I could think about was Firs saying "They knew some way in those days.... They've forgotten. Nobody remembers how to do it." And I look out the window at people who don't remember when shoes were supposed to last more than one season, lenders weren't allowed to charge 25%, growing food wasn't just a health craze but a normal way of life, books didn't cost $10 plus a special $180 decoder gizmo that would be outmoded in a year - and I think about all the people my age who have no idea how to run a business or why it would be desirable to own land - and I think it may not be the cherry orchard, but the Firs of this world, the ones who remember good sense and precaution, the ones who knew their ancestors' knowledge, we must fear most to lose.

    Book preview

    The Cherry Orchard - Anton Chekhov

    ACT I

    A dark room, the nursery.

    Sheet-shrouded furniture, a neglected space with a curious history.

    The windows are closed.

    One of the doors leads to Anya’s bedroom.

    Outside, the sun is about to rise. It’s May.

    The cherry trees are blossoming, but there’s an early morning frost in the orchard.

    Lopakhin is seated with a book in his hand.

    The sound of a train in the distance.

    Dunyasha enters.

    LOPAKHIN

    The train’s arrived, thank God—what time is it?

    DUNYASHA

    Almost two. It’s already light outside . . .

    LOPAKHIN

    God, the train must have been two hours late . . .

    (yawning, stretching)

    Uhhhhh . . . I’m an idiot. The whole reason I came here was to meet them at the station . . . [I’m a giant idiot] . . . how did I fall asleep?—who falls asleep sitting up?! Damnit. Why didn’t you wake me?

    DUNYASHA

    I thought you left.

    (hearing something)

    Is that them?—

    LOPAKHIN

    No, no, no . . . they’ll still have to get their luggage, and all of Lyubov’s . . . things . . .

    (beat)

    Five years she’s been living abroad so now I—I’m not even sure what she’ll be like. I know she’s a good person—she’s easygoing, you know? [I remember] . . . when I was a kid, maybe ten or eleven, my father—he worked at a shop in town then, we were here delivering a package, I think?—and—my father had just punched me in the face . . .

    DUNYASHA

    [What?]

    LOPAKHIN

    . . . [yes . . .] blood was pouring out of my nose . . . he was drunk, of course, and . . . we ended up outside in the yard, and Lyubov Andreyevna, I can see her now, God she was so young, so beautiful—she brought me into the house, right here, into this room, got out a washcloth and said, Don’t cry, you poor, poor boy, you’ll be better before you’re married . . .

    (beat)

    Poor boy . . .

    . . . well . . . my father was dirt poor and now, here I am in an expensive suit and shiny shoes . . . . a pig in a palace. Only difference now is I’m rich, I’ve got a lot of money, but—I mean look at me: who am I kidding, once a poor boy, always a poor boy . . .

    (he leafs through a fancy-looking book)

    I was reading this—didn’t understand a single word. Reading it and fell asleep . . .

    DUNYASHA

    The dogs didn’t sleep at all last night, they can tell their masters are coming home.

    LOPAKHIN

    What is wrong with you, Dunyasha?—

    DUNYASHA

    My hands are shaking. I’m going to faint.

    LOPAKHIN

    Since when are you so delicate—and why are you dressing like that—why’s your hair all [ladylike]—it’s not right, Dunyasha. You’ve got to remember your place.

    Yepikhodov enters with a bouquet; he is in a suit jacket and brightly polished boots. The boots squeak loudly.

    YEPIKHODOV

    Here, the gardener sent these, says to put them in the dining room.

    He drops the bouquet. Picks it up, gives it to Dunyasha.

    LOPAKHIN

    (calling after Dunyasha)

    And bring me some kvass.

    DUNYASHA

    Yes, sir.

    Dunyasha exits.

    YEPIKHODOV

    There’s a morning frost out there, it’s three degrees below freezing but the cherry trees are still blooming. I don’t approve of this weather. I don’t. It’s not conducive to . . . being alive . . . and, Yermolai Alekseyevich, as if the weather wasn’t enough, I just bought these boots three days ago and—I’m not exaggerating, they squeak so loud I can’t even—should I grease them with something? What should I / use to—

    LOPAKHIN

    Leave me alone. You wear me out.

    Dunyasha enters.

    YEPIKHODOV

    Every day a new disaster. But I don’t complain, I’m used to it.

    He runs into a chair, knocks it over.

    YEPIKHODOV

    [Did you see that?!] No way to fix it . . . nothing to be done . . . unbelievable . . .

    He exits.

    DUNYASHA

    I have a confession to make . . .

    (looking after Yepikhodov)

    Yepikhodov proposed to me.

    LOPAKHIN

    No . . .

    DUNYASHA

    Oh yes . . . I’m not even sure how he managed to—

    he’s so shy, and even when he does start to talk you can’t understand a word he says.

    It’s kind of romantic. I just don’t get what he’s saying.

    But I kind of like him. I like that he’s madly in love with me.

    Ugh, but he’s a disaster. Every day there’s something.

    We all make fun of him, we call him Mr. Misfortune . . .

    LOPAKHIN

    I think they’re coming . . . / finally . . .

    DUNYASHA

    Ahhhh . . . what is wrong with me . . . I’m so cold . . .

    LOPAKHIN

    Come on, let’s go meet them . . . God, you think she’ll recognize me?

    DUNYASHA

    I’m going to faint, I really am . . . I’m going to faint . . .

    They exit in a rush.

    The stage is empty. We hear voices approaching, growing closer.

    Firs, an older man dressed conservatively (he is household help), hustles across the stage. He assumes his position to greet the family, muttering to himself indecipherably. We hear:

    ANYA

    (offstage)

    —Mama, no, come this way, let’s go through here . . .

    Enter Lyubov and Anya. They wear traveling clothes. Dunyasha hustles behind them, carrying a bag or two.

    ANYA

    Do you remember this room, Mama?

    LYUBOV

    The nursery!

    VARYA

    My hands are numb . . . Mama, your rooms—the white one and the violet one—they’re exactly the way you left them.

    LYUBOV

    My nursery, my precious, beautiful room . . .

    I used to sleep here when I was little . . . oh God, now I feel like a little girl again.

    And Varya, you’re the same as ever, you look like a nun.

    And I recognize Dunyasha . . .

    They exit as Charlotta (with a little dog on a leash) enters, followed by Gaev, Pischik and Lopakhin; Dunyasha assists them all, followed by more servants carrying luggage—everyone makes their way across the room. Charlotta has an audible-but-indecipherable conversation with Pischik.

    GAEV

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