From the archives…

THE CHERRY ORCHARD (People’s Light): Capturing the comedy, insight, and pathos of Chekhov

// Completed in 1904, THE CHERRY ORCHARD, Anton Chekhov’s final dramatic work, is the most often staged of all Russian plays worldwide, and its production at People’s Light & Theatre Company (adaptation by Emily Mann) affirms why. Combining insightful socio-cultural farce with gripping human pathos, its dual nature as comedy and tragedy is captured in spades by director Abigail Adams and her extraordinary team of actors and designers. Set at the turn of the 20th century, in the pivotal time that saw the decline of the aristocracy, the rise of the bourgeoisie following the abolition of serfdom in 1861, and the fulmination of the Russian Revolution of 1917, Chekhov’s story revolves around the auction sale of an aristocratic estate, with its extensive cherry orchard, to pay off the family’s delinquent mortgage and growing debt.