Chekhov's great tragicomic eulogy for a passing way of life represents, according to Robert Brustein, "some kind of powerful culmination of all his dramas up to that time." With it he completed his four-play series of group portraits about futilitarians exiled in the provinces. "The Cherry Orchard is like a sponge," Mr. Brustein writes, "in the way it picks up the juices of the environment in which it is produced, like a barometer in the way it records the social-aestheitc pressures of current times." This superb adaptation illuminates Chekhov's fine mind, discriminating heart, and beautiful soul, and is wonderfully playable.
About the Author
Next to Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) is the most popular playwright in the English-speaking world. The Russian physician also wrote a series of remarkable short stories, in which he pioneered the stream-of-consciousness narrative technique.
