Event

The Cherry Orchard

@ Potiker Theatre
Directed by Emilie Whelan
November 29- December 5, 2015

Why do we maintain memories when they have nothing in common with the present? And what is that awful feeling inside our heads when the lights come up at the end of an all night party we'll never forget? In Chekhov's final play The Cherry Orchard, written only months before his impending death at 44 years old, an estate and its memory stands vulnerable to progress. Heartsick love slings like mud, the drink pours strong, and music hides everywhere as the party just. keeps. trying. to. storm.

The Cherry Orchard concerns an aristocratic Russian woman and her family as they return to their family estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. While presented with options to save the estate, the family essentially does nothing and the play ends with the sale of the estate to the son of a former serf; the family leaves to the sound of the cherry orchard being cut down. The story presents themes of cultural futility both the futile attempts of the aristocracy to maintain its status and of the bourgeoisie to find meaning in its newfound materialism. In reflecting the socio-economic forces at work in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, including the rise of the middle class after the abolition of serfdom in the mid-19th century and the sinking of the aristocracy, the play reflects forces at work around the globe in that period.

Performance Dates:
Sunday, Nov. 29 Preview
Tuesday, Dec. 1 Preview
Thursday, Dec. 3 Opening
Friday, Dec. 4
Saturday, Dec. 5

Tickets are NON-REFUNDABLE and there are NO EXCHANGES
There is NO LATE SEATING
We recommend you arrive at least 15 minutes before show time.