From Russia with love

The Russian play The Cherry Orchard tells the story of how the rich never learn their lesson that money doesn’t last forever and one should be careful of his wealth. It tells of how an aristocratic Russian family loses its estate including the famous Cherry Orchard. From the very beginning, the play has attracted translations and adaptations into many languages around the world, becoming a classic work of dramatic literature. The play has influenced the dramatic works of many, including Eugene O’Neill, George Bernard Shaw, David Mamet and Arthur Miller.

In the Filipino adaptation by writer Rody Vera with direction by Loy Arcenas, The Cherry Orchard was translated as a Fire Tree produced by PETA (Philippine Educational Theater Association) with Cherie Gil in the role of the matriarch Ranevskaya. There were several experiences in Anton Chekhov’s own life that are said to have directly inspired his writing of The Cherry Orchard. When Chekhov was 16, his mother went into debt after being cheated by some builders she had hired to construct a small house; a former lodger offered to help her financially, but secretly bought the house for himself. Later in his life, living on a country estate outside Moscow, Chekhov developed an interest in gardening and planted his own Cherry Orchard. Chekhov is often singled out as Europe’s first ecological author.

Chekhov wrote The Cherry Orchard over the course of several years, alternating between periods of light-hearted giddiness and despondent frustration. Throughout this time, he was also further inhibited by his chronic tuberculosis. Guarded by nature, Chekhov seemed overly secretive about all facets of the work.

As late as the Summer of 1902, he still had not shared anything about the play with anyone in his immediate family or the Art Theatre. By October 1903, the play was finished and sent to the Moscow Art Theatre. Three weeks later, Chekhov arrived at rehearsals in what would be a futile attempt to curb all the “weepiness” from the play which Stanislavski had developed. The author apparently also snickered when, during rehearsals, the word “orchard” was replaced with the more practical “plantation,” feeling that with that word he had perfectly and symbolically captured the impracticality of an entire way of life.

Although critics at the time were divided in their response to the play, the debut of The Cherry Orchard by the Moscow Art Theatre on Jan. 17, 1904 (Chekhov’s birthday) was a resounding theatrical success and the play was almost immediately presented in many of the important provincial cities. This success was not confined only to Russia, as the play was soon mounted abroad to great acclaim as well. Shortly after the play’s debut, Chekhov departed for Germany due to his worsening health, and by July 1904, he was dead.

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