'The Cherry Orchard': Confusing spin on classic

‘THE CHERRY ORCHARD’: (Left to right) Kyle Beltran, Tavi Gevinson, Diane Lane & Celia Keenan-Bolger. Photo: Joan Marcus

THE CHERRY ORCHARD
By Anton Chekhov
Adaptation by Stephen Karam
Directed by Simon Godwin
Through December 4, 2016
American Airlines Theatre
227 West 42nd Street
(212) 719-1300, www.roundaboutttheatre.org

By Scott Harrah

Anton Chekhov and his famous director Konstantin Stanislavsky must be rolling over in their graves regarding this misguided, unfocused adaptation of The Cherry Orchard. This revival is so inept that three questions arise immediately. Has it been produced as a vanity vehicle for Oscar nominee Diane Lane, who stars as Madame Lyubov Ranevskaya (she played one of the children back in a 1977 Lincoln Center revival with Meryl Streep and Raul Julia)? Or was it mounted because of a new adaptation by hot young playwright Stephen Karam, on the heels of his Tony Award-winning hit The Humans? Finally, why is Simon Godwin’s direction of the cast so haphazard and scattershot, with performances that are literally all over the place?

There is an ongoing argument in academic and intellectual circles about the true intent of The Cherry Orchard. Most theatergoers consider the four-act drama to be one of the greatest tragedies ever written for the stage. When first produced at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1904, director Konstantin Stanislavsky depicted a dark, lugubrious story of an aristocratic family, deeply in debt and about to lose their beloved estate. Most revivals have been true to the original Russian production, but some contend Chekhov was dissatisfied with the heavy-handed, gloomy tone the director infused into the text and the characters. Stephen Karam must believe—as some academics have pointed out over the years—that Chekhov intended the story to be a comedy because there are many humorous touches here, such as governess Charlotta Ivanovna (Tina Benko) hamming it up in some scenes, munching suggestively on a cucumber and doing card tricks and acting like a clown during a party.

Reinterpreting a classic like this may seem outrageous, but this is hardly the first production of Chekhov’s masterpiece with “comic” aspects. In 2005, an off-Broadway production at the Atlantic Theater (starring Brooke Adams) also played up the text’s more lighthearted moments, with equally dismal results. Whether New York audiences will agree that the story and its characters are funny is highly debatable. One simply cannot deny that the core of the plot itself is more heartbreaking than humorous.

Roundabout Theatre’s revival, directed by Mr. Godwin (a Brit who has directed numerous works at the National Theatre), features a stellar cast of Broadway and Hollywood veterans.

Diane Lane is Madame Lyubov Ranevskaya, the nearly bankrupt aristocrat who travels back to Russia from Paris to deal with the sale of her family’s orchard. Yermaoli Lopakhin (Harold Perrineau.), a onetime serf from the estate who has recently become a successful businessman, offers a simple solution to the problem—sell the orchard and build summer cottages on the land. Madame Ranevskaya and her ineffectual brother Gaev (John Glover) quickly reject the plan.

The Cherry Orchard is known more for its many subplots than one simple storyline. Chekhov created a complicated tapestry of dramatic incidents, existential philosophy and everyday encounters instead of a single narrative thread. The only villain here seems to be the changing socio-economic landscape of tsarist Russia—one that is quickly disassembling all former notions, privileges and traditions of the upper classes.

The cast has some distinguished names indeed, including the great Joel Grey (as the servant Firs), and Broadway notables Celia Keenan-Bolger as Varya (Ranevskaya’s daughter) and Tavi Gevison (recently in The Crucible) as Anya.

Scott Pask creates a fine set, complete with Calder-style mobiles that represent the cherry trees, and costumes by Michael Krass are lavish indeed

Ms. Lane certainly shows off her emotional range an as actress here, but her performance, like so many in the cast, never gels with the others because director Simon Godwin doesn’t rein in any of the actors, and it’s frustrating trying to figure out the myriad acting styles on display here. Mr. Grey’s portrayal of Firs is the only one that comes close to anything moving in this otherwise confusing and forgettable evening. Blame both Stephen Karam for this head-scratching adaptation and Mr. Godwin for his puzzling direction (or lack thereof). This new “spin” on The Cherry Orchard is simply the pits.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 20, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on October 19, 2016