Review: The Cherry Orchard

From the Cherrywell-styled programme to the familiar face of the accordion player (a lunchtime staple on Cornmarket), the moment the audience enter the Keble O’Reilly they are immediately transported into The Cherry Orchard’s foreign past.Resembling an Ikea bookcase, the set’s many compartments house countless trinkets and antiques that seem somwhat out of place in the very modern interior. This is the conflict between past and present: the emotional crux of the play.

The Cherry Orchard traces Lyubov Ranevskaya’s trauma as she is forced to sell her beloved family estate and cherry orchard to settle her debts.

Photo: Toby Mather

Lyubov is many things: an ailing aristocrat, a widow, a mother. Johnstone manages to convey these multiple identities with impeccable sensitivity.

Her range is remarkable, transformed from playing the fool to wallowing in grief in the space of one scene.

Johnstone skillfully exposes Lyubov’s conflict: being trapped by a past she cannot bear to let go off for fear of what the future may bring.The Cherry Orchard is equally an exceptionally strong ensemble piece. The coherency and strength of the entire cast is testament to the level of detail invested into this production.

Hannah Bristow’s Dunyaha was another standout performance. Dunyaha might be self-obsessed, naïve and obnoxious; but Bristow brings undeniable charm and verve to her depiction of the maid.

Photo: Toby Mather

A difficult play to pull off both technically and in terms of emotional depths reached, the task appears to have occasionally overwhelmed directors Melissa Purkiss and Aurora Dawson – Hunte.

Ten actors on stage have a huge visual impact; the play aims for consistent naturalism and there is always something going on in the background. However, in some scenes this proved extremely distracting.

When the pace of the play quickened in the second half some clarity was lost as the mammoth cast faltered at moments and some lines were thrown away. Yet these isolated incidents were the exception to the rule.

Purkiss and Dawson – Hunte have not only directed a compelling piece of drama but have provided a new translation of Chekhov’s exploration of the past haunting the present, of old Russia coming to terms with new social and political upheaval.

Chekhov packs a lot into every scene and every line – the transitions between humour, tragedy, tension and despair are tight and well executed, especially in the final scenes.

There are moments of clever experimentation (a momentary flashback scene to Paris is genius) and the space the O’Reilly is, for once, used to great effect.

To capture (and more importantly sustain) the emotions they have with a cast as large as this no mean feat. The Cherry Orchard is impressive on many levels and I am confident many more will be impressed by this unique take on Chekhov’s classic this week.