Notes from The Cherry Orchard

Next month sees a production of the classic comedy - yes, it is a comedy, and yes, there are plenty of laughs - The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov. Here to tell us a little more, is director Steve Evans:

"Twelve years ago I was offered the chance to teach drama in a boarding school and my first thought was that although I knew plenty about acting, I wasn’t that well versed in the great playwrights, other than Shakespeare. So I grabbed a biography of Chekhov and a book of his complete plays and prepared to be amazed at the brilliance of this iconic playwright.

I have to confess I was disappointed by the plays, though I was dazzled by the biography of this extraordinary man. Since then I have been fortunate enough to see all the major plays except The Three Sisters, and I have learned that the only way to appreciate Chekhov is in performance.

In the hands of actors and directors who understand how to play Chekhov, the plays are dazzling and it becomes easy to see why he is one of the few writers, if not the only one, whose name dare be mentioned in the same sentence as Shakespeare.

They are not dull, gloomy, or heavy going, as many people think. They are witty and insightful and bear all the hallmarks of this remarkable man who in an all-too-brief life and career as a doctor, writer and social benefactor, saw life in all its aspects.

The Cherry Orchard is a fundamentally a comedy though it does, like all great works, encompass many shades of emotion. We have put together a tremendous cast and it has been a great pleasure for me to work with some of my favourite Playhouse actors. I hope we will, in this production, change many people’s perceptions about a genius and his work, and provide an evening of great enjoyment in the theatre’s wonderful new auditorium."

THE CHERRY ORCHARD
Thursday 19 - Sunday 22 March
Thursday 26 - Saturday 28 March
Evenings at 7.45 pm
£10 (£8 concessions except Saturdays)
Schools Performance Wednesday 25 March at 7pm