Publisher Description

Chekhov's masterpiece, about a Russian family losing its ancestral home, combines a lament for a vanishing past with a hopeful dream of the future. In the century since its first performance, The Cherry Orchard has undergone a wide range of conflicting interpretations: tragic and comic, naturalistic and symbolic, reactionary and radical. Beginning with the 1904 premiere at Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theatre, this study traces the performance history of one of the landmark plays of the modern theatre. Considering the work of such directors as Anatoly Efros, Giorgio Strehler, Peter Brook, and Peter Stein, Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard explores the way different artists, periods and cultures have reinvented Chekhov's poignant comedy of failure and hope.

Author Biography

James N. Loehlin is currently Director of the Shakespeare at Winedale program at the University of Texas, and is a recipient of the Harry Ransom Teaching Award in the College of Liberal Arts. He is the editor of Romeo and Juliet in the Cambridge Shakespeare in Production series (2002), and of Henry V (Shakespeare in Performance, 1996).

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. The Cherry Orchard: text and performance; 2. The Moscow Art Theatre production, 1904; 3. Russian and Soviet performances, 1904–53; 4. The Cherry Orchard in English: early productions; 5. The Cherry Orchard at mid-century: Barrault, Saint-Denis, Strehler; 6. Radical revisions, 1975–7; 7. Brook and Stein, 1981–97; 8. The Cherry Orchard after one hundred years; Works cited.

Review

"Loehlin provides a detailed and through analysis of the text."-Nicholas G. Zekulin, Canadian Slavonic Papers

Promotional

A study of the performance history of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard.

Long Description

Chekhov's masterpiece, about a Russian family losing its ancestral home, combines a lament for a vanishing past with a hopeful dream of the future. In the century since its first performance, The Cherry Orchard has undergone a wide range of conflicting interpretations: tragic and comic, naturalistic and symbolic, reactionary and radical. Beginning with the 1904 premiere at Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theatre, this study traces the performance history of one of the landmark plays of the modern theatre. Considering the work of such directors as Anatoly Efros, Giorgio Strehler, Peter Brook, and Peter Stein, Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard explores the way different artists, periods and cultures have reinvented Chekhov's poignant comedy of failure and hope.

Review Quote

"Loehlin provides a detailed and through analysis of the text." -Nicholas G. Zekulin, Canadian Slavonic Papers

Promotional "Headline"

A study of the performance history of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard.

Description for Bookstore

One of the greatest modern plays, The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov is a poignant comedy about a family losing its ancestral home. This study examines a wide range of performances, from the 1904 premiere at Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theatre to experimental productions worldwide a century later.

Description for Library

One of the greatest modern plays, The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov is a poignant comedy about a family losing its ancestral home. This study examines a wide range of performances, from the 1904 premiere at Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theatre to experimental productions worldwide a century later.

Details