Week Eleven - CharMing CHeKHov.
Chekhov is another wonderful Russian. His work "The Cherry Orchard" is a great play we attempted to perform in tut, considering, I didn't think we did that badly considering time preparation, these directors...so pushy!! Anton Chekov draws from life experiences, at age sixteen Chekhov's own mother went into debt after having been cheated by some builders she had hire to build a small house. A friend offered her financial assistance, but in turn secretly bought the house for himself. At the same time his family home in Taganrog was sold to pay off its mortgage. Chekhov also planted a cherry orchard but when ill health to hold he had to move homes, shortly after the move Chekhov learnt that his Cherry Orchard had been cut down by the new owners. He was devastated. "The Cherry Orchard" was given birth. A farce written for the stage which aimed to entertain people with extravagant and unreal situations, disguise and mistaken identity , verbal humour of varying levels of sophistication, word play, fast-paced plot (whose speed usually increases) coming to a finale with a busy scene. One of the main themes of the play is the effect social change has on people. The emancipation of the serfs on 19/02/1861 by Alexander ll allowed former serfs to gain wealth and status while some aristocrats were becoming impoverished, unable to look after and maintain their estates because the cheap slave labour was gone.
My Dad told me of an italian saying that fits like a hand in a glove "dalla stalla a le stelle, e da le stelle a la stalla"
which basically translates to " from the stables to the stars, from the stars to the stables".
GREAT PLAY!!
