Other editions of book The Cherry Orchard

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

It is the turn of the 20th century and Russia is changing rapidly - the serfs have been emancipated, a new middle class is arising and the aristocracy is struggling to come to terms with their reduced role in society. Seeking to preserve a life of leisure and luxury, Madame Ranevsky must consider selling her estate, including her family's precious cherry orchard. But when faced with these hard decisions, Ranevsky remains in denial. Charting a period of tumultuous change, Chekhov creates a cast of tangible and unforgettable characters whose destiny is both tragic and inevitable. A touching masterpiece, The Cherry Orchard was Chekhov's final play and perhaps his best.

The Cherry Orchard is a play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It opened at the Moscow Art Theatre on 17 January 1904. Although Chekhov intended it as a comedy, it does contain some elements of farce. The play is often identified on the short list of the three or four outstanding plays written by Chekhov. In The Cherry Orchard, 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.

“Senelick’s accomplishment is astounding.”—Library JournalAnton Chekhov is a unique force in modern drama, his works cherished for their brilliant wit and insight into the human condition. In this stunning new translation of one of Chekhov’s most popular and beloved plays, Laurence Senelick presents a fresh perspective on the master playwright and his groundbreaking dramas. He brings this timeless trial of art and love to life as memorable characters have clashing desires and lose balance in the shifting eruptions of society and a modernizing Russia. Supplementing the play is an account of Chekhov’s life; a note on the translation; an introduction to the work; and variant lines, often removed due to government censorship, which illuminate the context in which they were written. This edition is the perfect guide to enriching our understanding of this great dramatist or to staging a production.

"The Cherry Orchard" was the last play written by Anton Chekhov and is widely regarded as one of his greatest dramatic accomplishments. It is the story of an aristocratic Russian woman and her family who return to their estate, a cherry orchard, to oversee the auction of the estate in order to pay the mortgage. The rise of the middle class and the decline of the aristocracy that was prevalent at the end of the 20th century in Russia, and ultimately led to the Socialistic Revolution, are excellently portrayed in Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard".

The Cherry Orchard is the last of Chekhov’s four major plays. Written at a time of social change and upheaval, a few decades after the emancipation of the serfs and before the Bolshevik Revolution, the play concerns the fate of a family estate that contains a noted cherry orchard. Madame Lyubov Andreievna Ranevskaya is an aristocratic landowner who returns to her estate in the provinces after having fled to Paris in despair after the drowning of her son. A proud woman with a genuine love of her home, she lacks the financial acumen or practicality necessary to keep the estate from being sold at auction to retire family debts. Of course, the estate is sold to a prosperous merchant who is the son of a former serf. Chekhov thought of the play as a comedy and found farcical humor in the futility of the gentry to adapt and of the bourgeoisie to find meaning in its material improvements. Stanislavski, who produced its premier in 1904, thought of it as a tragedy. Directors have wrestled with this duality ever since. The play was an immediate success and was presented immediately throughout Russia and other countries. It is considered a classic of 20th century theatre and has been translated into many languages and produced around the world. It has been a challenging vehicle for actors and directors to tackle and an important influence on playwrights such as George Bernard Shaw, Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller, and David Mamet, to name a few.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

The NHB Drama Classics series presents the world's greatest plays in affordable, highly readable editions for students, actors and theatregoers. The hallmarks of the series are accessible introductions (focussing on the play's theatrical and historical background, together with an author biography, key dates and suggestions for further reading) and the complete text, uncluttered with footnotes. The translations, by leading experts in the field, are accurate and above all actable. The editions of English-language plays include a glossary of unusual words and phrases to aid understanding. The Cherry Orchard is Chekhov's classic tragicomedy, translated and introduced by Stephen Mulrine. Ranevskaya can no longer afford to keep her childhood home with its beautiful but barren cherry orchard. She rejects the compromise offered by Lopakhin, a local businessman, to cut down the orchard and sell the land for holiday homes. Eventually Ranevskaya and her family are forced to leave the estate which Lopakhin has now bought.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

"The Cherry Orchard", first performed and published in 1904, is one of Anton Chekhov´s famous plays and is also the last.Madame Ranevskaya, who has spent five years in Paris to escape grief over her young son’s death, returns to her home in Russia ridden with debt. She is obliged to decide how to dispose of her family’s estate, with its beautiful and famous cherry orchard. The coarse but wealthy merchant Ermolai Lopakhin suggests that Mme Ranevskaya develop the land on which the orchard sits. Eventually Lopakhin purchases the estate and proceeds with his plans for a housing development. As the unhappy Ranevskayas leave the estate...Interestingly enough, Anton Chekhov intended for "The Cherry Orchard" to be a comedy, but the director staged it as a tragedy. The subject matter of the play is heavy, but there are comical elements, especially in regards to Madame Ranevskaya's brother's addiction to billiards.Another interesting fact about the play is that it is the only play in which Anton Chekhov included a gun but never had the gun fired. You may have heard about Chekhov's gun, a dramatic principle which states that every single item put into a play or story should have relevance. Therefore, a playwright should never introduce a gun into a play if he doesn't intend for it to go off at some point. Filmmakers still adhere to the Chekhov's gun rule today, though Chekhov himself broke his own rule in "The Cherry Orchard".