PLAYWRIGHT ANTON CHEKHOV

adapted BY tom stoppard

Chekhov’s great classic and the last play written before his death, features a rich tapestry of humanly-flawed characters trapped on the wheel of fortune. As Russia rolls toward revolution, Lyubov Ranevskaya, a once-wealthy landowner, returns home after years abroad to find that her ancestral property and beloved cherry orchard are slated for the auction block. A family friend, Yermolai Lopakhin, proposes that Ranevskaya save the estate by clearcutting the orchard and building summer rental cottages on the land. Meanwhile, Ranevskaya’s beloved brother Leonid Gayev vows to save the property, her daughters Anya and Varya dream of a future free from the orchard, and her servants fear for their positions in the money-troubled household. Compounding these varied motives are tangled love affairs, reckless spending and the complications that come with filial duty. As the characters attempt to avert, ignore or broker the imminent sale of the orchard, each sees a change in their own fortunes—sometimes for the better, but often for the worse.

Directed by CALLIE PRENDIVILLE JOHNSON