Anton Chekhov and Tom Stoppard — Cherry Orchard

Faber and Faber 2009 Paperback 79 As produced by London's Old Vic and later, New York's BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) in 2009. Anton Chekhov was a master whose daring work revolutionized theatre. In The Cherry Orchard, his last full-length play, an impoverished landowning family is unable to face the fact that their estate is about to be auctioned off. Lopakhin, a local merchant, presents numerous options to save it, including cutting down their prized cherry orchard. But the family is stricken with denial. The Cherry Orchard charts the precipitous descent of a wealthy family and in the process creates a bold meditation on social change and bourgeois materialism. Very Good