The Cherry Orchard

Theatre performance The Cherry Orchard by Lev Dodin and Maly Drama Theatre, programmed in Holland Festival 2015.
Madame Lyubov Ranevskaya is under pressure to sell off her beloved cherry orchard in order to fund the maintenance of her family, her country estate and her bohemian life style. Her refusal to face her financial predicament and accept the sale leads to the downfall of her family and gives the newly rich property developer Lopakhin, the son of former serfs, the opportunity to realise his plans for these changing times. Chekhov's seminal play premiered in 1904, a time in which Russia was undergoing huge social change. More than a century on, Chekhov's masterpiece seems to be as powerful as ever. In Lev Dodin's transparent staging, the young stellar cast of his Maly Drama Theatre shows us a Russia in which the old values and structures are being dismantled at a frightening pace.