Stage Russia: The Cherry Orchard

A special screening under the Upenn Slavic Department Stage Russia series.
First produced in 1904 at The Moscow Art Theatre under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavsky, this centennial production of Anton Chekhov's classic tale of cultural futility, starring Russian stage and screen legend Renata Litvinova, is as relevant today as it was over a hundred years ago.

Adolf Shapiro's interpretation asks the question, where would the characters of this play live today years after their cherry orchard has been cut down? The answer, which lies in the material world created by set designer, David Borovsky, is, of course, on the stage. The waves of the Moscow Art Theatre's stage curtain, with its famous Seagull insignia, curving and folding in on itself, creating smooth and sometimes ominous corners, becomes home to these wanderers, who are in fact shadows of the past come to life on stage.

Language: Russian
Translation: English subtitles
Running time: 3 hours with one intermission.

Creative Team
​
Director: Adolf Shapiro
Set design: David Borovsky
Lighting Design: Gleb Filshtinsky
Assistant Costume Designer: Elena Afanasieva
Conjuring Tricks: Rafael Tsitalashvili
Composer: Igor Vdovin
Stage Manager: Olga Roslyakova
​
Cast
​
Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreevna, landowner: Renata Litvinova
Anya, her daughter, 17 years old: Yana Gladkikh
Varya, her foster-daughter, 24 years old: Jana Sekste
Gaev Leonid Andreevich, Ranevskaya's brother: Sergey Dreiden
Lopakhin Ermolay Alexeevich, a merchant: Andrey Smolyakov
Trofimov Pyotr Sergeevich: Igor Hripunov
Simeonov-Pischik Boris Borisovich, a landowner: Vladimir Krasnov
Charlotte Ivanovna, a governess: Evdokiya Germanova
Epikhodov Semen Panteleevich, a clerk: Sergey Ugryumov
Dunyasha, a maid: Yulia Kovalyova
Firs, a butler, 87 years old: Nikolay Chindyaykin
Yasha, young footman: Dmitry Brodetsky
Passer-by: Vladimir Timofeev
Station Manager: Boris Korostelev, Oleg Mazurov
Post-Office Worker: Aleksey Varushenko