The Cherry Orchard - Greenwich Playhouse
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
CASTING has been announced for the Galleon Theatre Company’s production of The Cherry Orchard, which runs at Greenwich Playhouse from April 1 (previews from March 30) to April 25, 2010.
Directed by Bruce Jamieson, they are Maggie Daniels (as Ranyevskaia), Ashley David (Yasha), Jason Denyer (Gayev), Nik Drake (Trofimov), Suzanne Goldberg (Varia), Tara Hart (Charlotta), Hugh Hemmings (Feers), Nicholas Karpenko (Yepihodov), Clare McMahon (Ania), Robert Paul (Lopakhin), Fleur Shepherd (Dooniasha) and Richard Unwin (Pishchik).
Previously Posted: Galleon Theatre Company is presenting Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard at Greenwich Playhouse – from March 30 to April 25, 2010.
The Cherry Orchard opens with the return of an aristocratic Russian woman and her family to their estate, which includes a large cherry orchard, just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage.
Even though they are presented with opportunities to save their home, the family fail to act and the play ends with the property being sold to the son of a former serf, and with them leaving to the sound of the cherry orchard being destroyed.
The Cherry Orchard exposes both the failure of the aristocracy to maintain its status and the ineptitude of the bourgeoisie to find a purpose within their newly found materialism. It also reveals the socio-economic forces at work in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, such as the rise of the middle classes after the mid-19th century abolition of serfdom and the annihilation of the aristocracy.
The Cherry Orchard is Chekhov’s most autobiographical play, resembling as it does the author’s own financial and domestic troubles. It also echoes Chekhov’s love of the land and his passion for his own cherry orchard. And as well as addressing similar social and political themes as his earlier plays, The Cherry Orchard, with its concern for industrial deforestation, is pertinent to today’s environmental issues.
Chekhov’s other plays include Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters.
Produced by Alice de Sousa to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Chekhov’s birth, The Cherry Orchard is directed by Bruce Jamieson, who has previously directed nearly 30 Galleon theatre productions and played leading roles on more than 60 stage plays. Casting will be announced shortly.
The Cherry Orchard is designed by Sara Gianfrate, with costume design by Eleanor Wdowski and lighting design by Robert Gooch.
Tickets: £12, £10 concessions.
Times: Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30pm, Sunday at 4pm.
For more information call the box office on 020 8858 9256 or visit www.galleontheatre.co.uk
Prior to The Cherry Orchard, Twelfth Night runs at Greenwich Playhouse from February 16 to March 14, 2010.
Read more