Be one of the first fifty readers to gain free access to an extensive account of the premiere production of Strange Fruit , Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard in America’s Deep South.
The article is an analysis of how the transplanting of the location of The Cherry Orchard from Russia to America; the adaptation of the text for a site-specific, multi-audience promenade production; and a strict adherence to Chekhov’s insistence that the comedic and farcical elements of the play be given their full due, all contributed to fulfilling the project’s educational brief of training student performers, designers and technicians in the conventions of ‘ensemble’ theatre. The particular focus lies in the portrayal of African-American characters and their Russian counterparts, drawing on biographical sources highlighting Chekhov’s personal experience of the legacy of serfdom and historical accounts by former slaves in the immediate post-American Civil War years.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE: Stanislavski Studies, October 2016
