CHICAGO—Characters that bump into furniture, laugh at inappropriate moments, and engage in plenty of pratfalls are not what one usually expects from Anton Chekhov’s (1860–1904) “The Cherry Orchard.” In the past, the play has typically been presented as a Russian tragedy. But that wasn’t the playwright’s intent. In this winsome revival, outgoing artistic director Robert Falls’s final production doesn’t focus on the sadness of Chekhov’s work, but on its comic aspects.
Falls’s interpretation embodies Chekhov’s intention. Russian director Konstantin Stanislavski, better known as the man who brought a method of realistic acting to the world, first staged the play at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1904; He emphasized the strand of melancholy in the work, rather than its comedy.
Out With the Old
The story of this compelling revival, however, remains the same. It concerns the unsatisfying attempts of Madame Lyubov Ranevskaya (Kate Fry is riveting as the entitled matriarch who has never worked a day in her life), and her family to save their estate, with its glorious cherry orchard, from bankruptcy. She is horrified when Lopakhin (Kareem Bandealy in an extraordinary characterization), a suitor to Varya (Alejandra Escalante) her stepdaughter, suggests leveling the orchard to build cabins for a holiday resort.Falls highlights farcical moments such as when elderly house butler Firs (the always terrific Francis Guinan) puts a footstool in front of Madame Ranevskaya, his employer, who rubs his head like he’s a dog; when her brother Leonid Gayev (charming Christopher Donahue) wraps his arms around a 100-year old wooden dresser and proclaims a centennial celebration for the furniture; and when the family believes that their neighbor, Boris Simyonov-Pishchik (Matt DeCaro), may be dead because he is sleeping with his mouth wide open.
Much of the shenanigans come across as vaudevillian shtick, but the gags and jokes actually emphasize the inner pain of Chekhov’s characters. Indeed, by stressing the humor in the play, the pathos of human loneliness and vulnerability comes across with more poignancy in comparison.
By focusing on the comedy, the tragic aspect of human existence is made even more palpable.
While all the characters in the play are intense, and are portrayed by some of the best actors in Chicago, the most interesting is that of Lopakhin. A pivotal figure in “The Cherry Orchard,” he represents the new generation challenging the old. Indeed, the theme of the play is how the Russian nobility lost its wealth and power as Russia moved into a new age.
Until 1861, many Russian nobles owned serfs who provided free labor, which enabled the Russian landowners to build and maintain rich estates complete with crops that provided them with income. When Czar Alexander II abolished serfdom in 1861, the slave system that supported the old world order collapsed.
Lopakhin is the son of a former serf who worked on Madame Ranevskaya’s estate. His father was a drunk and an ignorant man who beat him, but Lopakhin worked his way up from grinding poverty to become a well-to-do businessman.
One wonders if Chekhov identified with Lopakhin, as he himself was the grandson of a serf and the son of a failed father who physically abused him. He was also a self-made man who worked very hard to rise above his poor upbringing.
Focus on Character
For some, the plot may not move as fast as the movies and television with which the audience may be accustomed. That’s because Chekhov was more motivated by character than plot. He believed that character was plot, and that drama arose, not because of situations and events, but from people’s inner lives.As in all of Goodman’s productions, “The Cherry Orchard” features a talented technical team that contributes to the feeling of a nostalgic past. That includes Todd Rosenthal’s set design of a mansion in need of repair, Ana Kuzmanic’s lush period costumes, and Richard Woodbury’s moving sound and music.
As a precursor to modern theater, Chekhov believed that it was a writer’s job to present life as it is, not as one would like it to be. He is heralded by theater aficionados as one of the first to bring psychological realism into his plays.
By emphasizing the humor in Chekhov, Falls has succeeded in creating one of the fastest-paced and appealing productions presented in Chicago. Yet this production still brings a tear to one’s eyes when, in the most powerful, heart-rending moment of the play, the 87-year old Firs brings down the curtain with “Life’s gone by as if I’d never lived.”
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