In Which I finally post the "Theater" post I've been Procrastinating On (and Human Nature Ramblies)
Firstly, The Cherry Orchard
The Logistics
Some background, I had mentioned previously that seeing MM live on stage in a theater production would be a dream come true and something from my bucket list. Obviously, I thought it was low in the realm of possibility initially (also, I have recently realized I missed Marg Helgenberger doing the play, "The Other Place" in Mass.), so when I heard about "The Cherry Orchard", I was beyond excited but also filled with trepidation. I was worried about getting my hopes too high only to have them crash on me. I was in the middle of my work internship, and the play's in PA, which, isn't exactly FAR, but still far enough. :) (Though I know there were plenty of fangirls who came from MUCH farther away.)
Overall, I'm writing this from my old write-up doc that I had created to preserve my memories as clearly as possible, I can say though - at least - that it was an amazing experience, and I can't express my gratitude enough to the universe for its kindness (and my parents, and my job salary). The drive (my initial idea of taking public transport having fallen through upon my dad's insistence that he join me [aka: I don't do anything reckless to tamper with my unpredictable health]), while not ideal, was not as bad as it could have been. (We got about another 2 inches of snow the night before, but the day of was relatively "warm" and sunny.)
I also got a great seat with my dad in the second row from the stage, and I had made a gift in the form of a small box filled with handmade origami cherry blossoms (I made one for each of the cast and crew members listed on the webpage :3) as well as a small card for MM that I handed off to the kind (but, I think, so ready to be done with it all) theater manager. LOL All in all, it was a wonderfully entertaining play. They definitely made this production more comedic rather than tragic, and I think that actually fits the tone of the play - the version/interpretation that I saw - and its resolution better.
ALSO of note, my dad and I "met" the couple sitting next to us during the intermission. They told us we should probably move into the open seats next to us (since it was clear that no one would be coming for them), and they were a bit cold where they were at the end of the row because of the draft from the nearby emergency exit door, so we did, and I struck up a conversation with the nice lady, and she mentioned that she went to school with MM (?!?), and me being the fangirl that I was and knowledgeable *cough* as I am asked if that meant that she went to Fredonia. She confirmed, surprised, and asked me if I went there, and I had to awkwardly explain that I was just… *cough* a fan. ><” But it was nice to talk about it as simply as a fangirl can explain the logic of being a fangirl, and she could understand. She thinks that MM is an amazing actress, and said that she knew it from when the moment she first saw her in “The Crucible” while at university. She was in the year ahead, so she didn’t really know her know her, but yeah… that was cool. :)
*Between this and the run-in at "Cover", it seems to have been the YEAR of MM-related coincidences, not that I'm complaining. In fact, I think I should just thank the universe and my lucky stars.*
The Meta Part:
For referencing: Olafurneal’s posts: http://olafurneal.tumblr.com/post/112015961345/the-cherry-orchard
It was actually very distracting for me - this entire MM playing Lyubov thing - in both the best and worst of ways. In the best of ways because she is a FRAKKING fantastic actress and brought Lyubov to vibrant life, (I cannot quite figure out if it’s because Mary McDonnell embodies the character so well or if this adaptation was basically written for MM, probably some combination of both considering that the director of the play, Abigail Adams, has stated that MM had been her visualized Lyubov from the time they first to decided to do “The Cherry Orchard”), but also in the worst of ways because I was constantly fighting between my most natural instinct to ALWAYS FOCUS on MM with my also most natural instinct to be completely enveloped in the play and try my best to pay attention to what is happening EVERYWHERE (which, let it be known, is VERY difficult - nigh on impossible), so I think I landed somewhere in the middle ground (and some things that some of the MM fans pointed out online are still news to me because they went RIGHT over my head :D).
Basically, I feel like this other reviewer (https://preopticarea.wordpress.com/tag/the-cherry-orchard/) already covered some of the wonderful highlights/points of the play/storytelling and casting. I loved that she pointed out the inclusion of cherry blossom motif into all of MM/Lyubov’s clothing - casting her as the personification of everything that “The Cherry Orchard” represented in the play - charm (in both the good and bad ways - charm can beguile and confuse, but it also means forgiveness and warmth and lends closeness), hope, home, and haven, a touchstone in the current of change, constantly at risk of washing away, and I feel like it fits the volatility of Lyubov very well (which, how amazing were MM’s shifts from the highest highs to the lowest lows with the smallest of cues from other characters?). I loved those moments that broke through when all her bravado and buoyancy fails her, those glimpses under her seemingly whimsical and frivolous surface to the true depth of emotions underneath all the façade and playacting and denial. She, more than most of the characters, understood the deep wounds that loss causes, especially due to, at least in her mind, her own actions. In this instance, she chooses inaction instead, which I understand can also be a statement/portrayal about the aristocratic class and its resistance/failure-to-react towards the charge of progress (and general, open-to-interpretation ambivalence towards that idea of change from the audience’s perspective), but I do think that there’s also a lot to be said about the way former actions with seemingly heartbreaking consequences (even if only morally viewed as such by Lyubov and indirect - but *sobs* that scene though! when she is confessing to Lophankim) can freeze us ever after (or spur us on harder than before - to be human is to react in a wide variety of ways :D).
Also, can we just note how central Lyubov is to this cast of characters? Which makes the choice of casting her as the personification of the titular cherry orchard of the play so VERY apt. Every character, by choice or not, is drawn to her. Even the so-called “antagonist” (and lbr, the only true antagonist of this play was time and circumstance - not even Yasha, in all his horrifying, UGH ways could truly be villainous - except for that last neglect of Firs, but more on that later), is, and you cannot argue me out of this, more than a bit in love with her - or the idea of her. The inspiration she had lent Lophankim in a show of kindness when he was but a child, and I loved that? I love that they decided to go with that interpretation? Because the nuances of human nature is much more fascinating than any black-and-white moral divides. I love that the only time he ever actually HURTS her is when he is inebriated, as drunk on the conceived “victory” for his forefathers as on the alcohol, and even after that, he was so obviously just oblivious to the hurt and stalwartly tries to pick up the pieces his injury caused.
Truly, this play had SUCH a hopeful ending that if I had not gone in knowing it’s a tragicomedy, I may have missed the more “tragic” aspects of it, and it’s tragedy in the most artistic [and conventional] sense - whereby a character's, or cast of characters’, own folly leads to their downfall. The siblings’ denial and inability to act, Anya’s youthful naivete, Petya’s zealous passion but fear of commitment and youthful inconsideration, Lophakim’s inability to propose, Varya’s inability to ask, and the other characters’ constant want of a different identity.
Which makes Firs the obvious tragic end, all the more striking, because his death is clearly symbolically tied to the house, the lands, he had tended to for so long. He knows of nothing else and has basically given his life over to it - quite literally. However, his identity is the strongest and most clearly cut - only undermined by the fact that he never really had clear ownership of it. His identity had been carved first by his station/class in life, and then by time and circumstance itself - unable to choose freedom at the cost of certainty and well-ingrained tradition. (Btw, that actor was AMAZING. THEY WERE ALL AMAZING!)
… Also part of the reason I have waited so long to post a response/review has been partially the fact that the play really has taken a while to truly digest, my memories mostly a conglomerate of actual reality in terms of my own experience and the reviews and experiences of others as I’ve read them and what they recall and saw. (It’s really Walter Benjamin’s “The Task of the Translator” at its best.)
And here’s the thing, I think that the play at first glance seems, at the most surface level, plays at being commentary on class - on politics and ideology, but he [Chekov] sets almost every element against that idea? It's not about a class trying to defend itself even, or at least - that’s not the way I saw it?
I saw it as an ongoing commentary on change - the forces that drive it and the differing (or similar) forces it drives in turn. (Petya’s idealism, Anya’s hopes, Varya’s pragmatism, Lophankim’s ambition and both the cherished and hated memories of his youth, Lyubov’s love/compassion/whimsicality, Andreyovich’s inertia finally being overrun by the tidal forces) - similarly to identity, each character’s sense of or moment of change varies. Petya’s idealism drives him towards more and more radical ideas even as it drives him further and further into inaction… until the end of the play where the ending of The Cherry Orchard drives him back to university (finally). Anya’s the ingénue, the “angel” - both figuratively and literally, she accepts the change with open arms and flies right along with it, looking back however, constantly in concern and worry and all the love her mother and sister have embedded into her (yes, I may or may not have subconsciously embedded an "Angel of History" reference here). She’s going to meet progress head on, but she worries the tiniest bit about what it means for the others. Varya is pragmatic and rolls with the circumstances, always. Lyubov’s adoption of her long ago never erased her origins, but it does give her some light and the ability to fight a path into life. Some freedom and power and ability to stand on her own two feet - 100 rubles or 400, head of household or servant. She’s wrought to anguish over the changes that were coming, but in the aftermath, she holds steady on the course. Lyubov, arguably, has already faced the forces of change in her life - loss does that to you - and she’s returning to her old escape with distance and the illusion/reality of love, no matter how slim. I BELIEVE her when she says she loves the man who was a scoundrel who robbed her. Just as I believe her to be a genuinely loving and kind woman with flightiness and whimsicalness and carelessness (which can take the form of petty cruelty easily enough) abounding. She’s the cherry orchard not because she will stand forever in the face of change, but because she represents so much of the past in the lives of the people whose lives she has touched. Her act of kindness is the driving force to Lophankim’s change. That is the thing immediately made obvious to us in the opening scene, and the manner in which he’s chosen to interpret her wording of “poor” thing - words in a moment of carelessness more than likely, and a little head-over-heels in love with the memory of her and what she drove him to be ever since. He may accept his origins certainly, but more than anything, he’s celebrating a triumph not over a system (though that’s part of it, and certainly what’s made this moment possible - the purchase - in the first place), but a triumph over the past - his past. What his father who beat him when he was unable to defend himself could never accomplish, and she gave him that in a careless moment of kindness. He loves her for it (interpret that “love” however you would like).
When I read the little exhibit upstairs offering a bit of context for the play, the setting, and the theater and writer, I remember being really struck by the comment that Chekov’s play was about ambivalence towards change, or at least, on making any sort of moral judgement on it, and it’s true. Just look at the differing number of perspectives and voices and opinions on the characters and their actions that have resulted from even this one showing.
Also, can I just further comment on Mary’s acting in this play? The more I think about it, simply, the more IMPRESSED I am by it. The first telegram - it’s such a small thing, but of such significance later on. The child’s sleigh was obvious as a trigger and Petya being the fulcrum on which several of her more sever mood shifts occurred, and the retelling by the river… but that telegram, with all her love and disappointment and anger and disgust and sadness and lingering joy for home all mixed together at once in a single moment, and you see all of it flash across MM’s face in the span of a minute - not even. Seriously, who DOES that?! And you don’t even know why until an act later. *shakes head* That woman.
Of further note, other thoughts I’ve had during, after, and since: where is the background fanfic? Please? For Varya and Lyubov, because I want to know how all of that happens, because Varya is so deeply, obviously, her daughter - not of blood or even class or temperament no - that had I not read the character descriptions and caught that one line in the play where Lyubov explains her poor origins, I wouldn’t have known she was adopted. (In fact, there was one reviewer who did NOT catch it and thought Dunyasha, the maid, was Lyubov’s adopted daughter - and that’s how well everyone got along and was treated and/or how our own preconceived notions of how class-differences MUST have functioned for the aristocracy and their servants function…) Seriously, I want to see how all that came about and Varya’s inclusion into the family and how Anya became her little sister, her “angel”.
The Initial Incoherent Flailing:
At this point, I think I'm just going to copy and paste my initial post-play squeeing and flailing that I had typed up:
"The ENTIRE cast was just SPECTACULAR, and MM... well, what can I say about her? I think I had a bit of trouble with the extremely over-the-top/hilarious/giddy parts of Lyubov because they reminded me of her so much, but those moments where the mask and all the pretense falls away? When she's reminded of the bleaker circumstances of her life and losses?... Those just broke my heart a bit."
I actually do think of Lyubov as a powerful character because she bounces so quickly away from her vulnerabilities and frailness with such quick and practised denial and pretense, which can be a bit ridiculous, but her self-awareness of it makes all the difference. The emotional intelligence hits with such a sudden impact that I realized only after I had been struck the full emotional depth of this character that gives off such a strong sense of... frivolousness from the first moment you meet her. But she IS magnetic and charming, and you, as the audience, can totally understand why the rest of the cast of characters are so completely drawn into her. Her remarks can be petty and hurtful at times, but she's also so completely and genuinely kind and generous (even when she probably shouldn't be). :3
Olivia was so pretty and did an AMAZING job as Anya and playing the ingenue. David Strathairn was VERY convincing as the brother who talks too much. It was surprising because he so often plays the sort of male character that always only says JUST enough (literally every role I've seen him in so far). :3
And the rest of the Company was just SPECTACULAR. You could just see the experience and their trust in each other coming off the stage as a fully fleshed story coming to life. :)
Part II of Theatre!Spam/Splurge 2015: IF/THEN - MY GOSH THIS SHOW!
I saw it only a few weeks before The Cherry Orchard, but this is how good it was: it has managed to remain in my brain - not overwhelmed by The Cherry Orchard/MM spectacular-ness. I would even go so far to say that the opposite is equally true, I was actually worried that my "If/Then" experience would be an overwhelming factor and distract me from "The Cherry Orchard" - thankfully not, or not too much so, even if the soundtrack had been played on repeat for a few weeks. >>” That said, I also purchased music for The Cherry Orchard production by Melissa Dunphy (found here). I ADORED the strings in her work, and I honestly played those tracks on repeat as well when I was studying the previous week for midterms. <<" It was, however, a much better choice that the nigh-on "DOOM" sounding Mendelssohn organ pieces I was first listening to. XD
It’s a bit like Rent 2.0 (same composer/writer; Idina Menzel; Anthony Rapp; a Joanne-like character who knocks it OUT OF THE PARK; you get the picture), but it’s even MORE of a love poem to NYC - if possible - but look, there’s actually a SONG titled with matching stage setting to the complex map/network of the city’s subway system. The only thing lacking is the social commentary. It’s a lot less… "activist"/issues-driven - and a lot more about these specific characters - particularly Liz/Beth and where she is in life, and love, and loss, and work, etc. Though, honestly, that sort of character-driven storytelling was also full and rich in "Rent".
I know its run has long since ended, but I hope they will one day release a staged version of it with the original cast, because, honestly, I haven't fallen so hard for a Broadway musical since... Phantom? I think, which was my first. (I DO adore The Fiddler on the Roof though...) There's something about the story telling and the rich characters and "what-ifs" and all the possibilities that hit me in just the right way alongside the fantastic music (and the fantastic vocals of the cast). :) I actually waited outside post-show at the stage door for autographs... Despite the subzero temps. I couldn't feel my feet after that. XD
Part III:
I also saw another small, more "independent" play (ala "Cover" except in QUEENS, not Manhattan), which was also a great experience in terms of characters, changes over time, divergent choices (except no dual explorations of the possibilities in this one), and the way we connect and relate to others. It was called "the lighthouse invites the storm". Hence, this was a much cheaper show, but I enjoyed it greatly - especially as a weekend break from work. It also happened to be the day of a work marathon, so it was... just a good day. :)
Of note, I know this post at this point, on this day has come out of absolutely nowhere, but I hope you are all well - wherever you may be. I think after the events of the last day (and more), I've come to further appreciate the distance that the internet compresses between human beings, but at the same time, the utter powerlessness also at times to take action when things go horribly awry at still distant places.
*HUGS* ♥
The Logistics
Some background, I had mentioned previously that seeing MM live on stage in a theater production would be a dream come true and something from my bucket list. Obviously, I thought it was low in the realm of possibility initially (also, I have recently realized I missed Marg Helgenberger doing the play, "The Other Place" in Mass.), so when I heard about "The Cherry Orchard", I was beyond excited but also filled with trepidation. I was worried about getting my hopes too high only to have them crash on me. I was in the middle of my work internship, and the play's in PA, which, isn't exactly FAR, but still far enough. :) (Though I know there were plenty of fangirls who came from MUCH farther away.)
Overall, I'm writing this from my old write-up doc that I had created to preserve my memories as clearly as possible, I can say though - at least - that it was an amazing experience, and I can't express my gratitude enough to the universe for its kindness (and my parents, and my job salary). The drive (my initial idea of taking public transport having fallen through upon my dad's insistence that he join me [aka: I don't do anything reckless to tamper with my unpredictable health]), while not ideal, was not as bad as it could have been. (We got about another 2 inches of snow the night before, but the day of was relatively "warm" and sunny.)
I also got a great seat with my dad in the second row from the stage, and I had made a gift in the form of a small box filled with handmade origami cherry blossoms (I made one for each of the cast and crew members listed on the webpage :3) as well as a small card for MM that I handed off to the kind (but, I think, so ready to be done with it all) theater manager. LOL All in all, it was a wonderfully entertaining play. They definitely made this production more comedic rather than tragic, and I think that actually fits the tone of the play - the version/interpretation that I saw - and its resolution better.
ALSO of note, my dad and I "met" the couple sitting next to us during the intermission. They told us we should probably move into the open seats next to us (since it was clear that no one would be coming for them), and they were a bit cold where they were at the end of the row because of the draft from the nearby emergency exit door, so we did, and I struck up a conversation with the nice lady, and she mentioned that she went to school with MM (?!?), and me being the fangirl that I was and knowledgeable *cough* as I am asked if that meant that she went to Fredonia. She confirmed, surprised, and asked me if I went there, and I had to awkwardly explain that I was just… *cough* a fan. ><” But it was nice to talk about it as simply as a fangirl can explain the logic of being a fangirl, and she could understand. She thinks that MM is an amazing actress, and said that she knew it from when the moment she first saw her in “The Crucible” while at university. She was in the year ahead, so she didn’t really know her know her, but yeah… that was cool. :)
*Between this and the run-in at "Cover", it seems to have been the YEAR of MM-related coincidences, not that I'm complaining. In fact, I think I should just thank the universe and my lucky stars.*
The Meta Part:
For referencing: Olafurneal’s posts: http://olafurneal.tumblr.com/post/112015961345/the-cherry-orchard
It was actually very distracting for me - this entire MM playing Lyubov thing - in both the best and worst of ways. In the best of ways because she is a FRAKKING fantastic actress and brought Lyubov to vibrant life, (I cannot quite figure out if it’s because Mary McDonnell embodies the character so well or if this adaptation was basically written for MM, probably some combination of both considering that the director of the play, Abigail Adams, has stated that MM had been her visualized Lyubov from the time they first to decided to do “The Cherry Orchard”), but also in the worst of ways because I was constantly fighting between my most natural instinct to ALWAYS FOCUS on MM with my also most natural instinct to be completely enveloped in the play and try my best to pay attention to what is happening EVERYWHERE (which, let it be known, is VERY difficult - nigh on impossible), so I think I landed somewhere in the middle ground (and some things that some of the MM fans pointed out online are still news to me because they went RIGHT over my head :D).
Basically, I feel like this other reviewer (https://preopticarea.wordpress.com/tag/the-cherry-orchard/) already covered some of the wonderful highlights/points of the play/storytelling and casting. I loved that she pointed out the inclusion of cherry blossom motif into all of MM/Lyubov’s clothing - casting her as the personification of everything that “The Cherry Orchard” represented in the play - charm (in both the good and bad ways - charm can beguile and confuse, but it also means forgiveness and warmth and lends closeness), hope, home, and haven, a touchstone in the current of change, constantly at risk of washing away, and I feel like it fits the volatility of Lyubov very well (which, how amazing were MM’s shifts from the highest highs to the lowest lows with the smallest of cues from other characters?). I loved those moments that broke through when all her bravado and buoyancy fails her, those glimpses under her seemingly whimsical and frivolous surface to the true depth of emotions underneath all the façade and playacting and denial. She, more than most of the characters, understood the deep wounds that loss causes, especially due to, at least in her mind, her own actions. In this instance, she chooses inaction instead, which I understand can also be a statement/portrayal about the aristocratic class and its resistance/failure-to-react towards the charge of progress (and general, open-to-interpretation ambivalence towards that idea of change from the audience’s perspective), but I do think that there’s also a lot to be said about the way former actions with seemingly heartbreaking consequences (even if only morally viewed as such by Lyubov and indirect - but *sobs* that scene though! when she is confessing to Lophankim) can freeze us ever after (or spur us on harder than before - to be human is to react in a wide variety of ways :D).
Also, can we just note how central Lyubov is to this cast of characters? Which makes the choice of casting her as the personification of the titular cherry orchard of the play so VERY apt. Every character, by choice or not, is drawn to her. Even the so-called “antagonist” (and lbr, the only true antagonist of this play was time and circumstance - not even Yasha, in all his horrifying, UGH ways could truly be villainous - except for that last neglect of Firs, but more on that later), is, and you cannot argue me out of this, more than a bit in love with her - or the idea of her. The inspiration she had lent Lophankim in a show of kindness when he was but a child, and I loved that? I love that they decided to go with that interpretation? Because the nuances of human nature is much more fascinating than any black-and-white moral divides. I love that the only time he ever actually HURTS her is when he is inebriated, as drunk on the conceived “victory” for his forefathers as on the alcohol, and even after that, he was so obviously just oblivious to the hurt and stalwartly tries to pick up the pieces his injury caused.
Truly, this play had SUCH a hopeful ending that if I had not gone in knowing it’s a tragicomedy, I may have missed the more “tragic” aspects of it, and it’s tragedy in the most artistic [and conventional] sense - whereby a character's, or cast of characters’, own folly leads to their downfall. The siblings’ denial and inability to act, Anya’s youthful naivete, Petya’s zealous passion but fear of commitment and youthful inconsideration, Lophakim’s inability to propose, Varya’s inability to ask, and the other characters’ constant want of a different identity.
Which makes Firs the obvious tragic end, all the more striking, because his death is clearly symbolically tied to the house, the lands, he had tended to for so long. He knows of nothing else and has basically given his life over to it - quite literally. However, his identity is the strongest and most clearly cut - only undermined by the fact that he never really had clear ownership of it. His identity had been carved first by his station/class in life, and then by time and circumstance itself - unable to choose freedom at the cost of certainty and well-ingrained tradition. (Btw, that actor was AMAZING. THEY WERE ALL AMAZING!)
… Also part of the reason I have waited so long to post a response/review has been partially the fact that the play really has taken a while to truly digest, my memories mostly a conglomerate of actual reality in terms of my own experience and the reviews and experiences of others as I’ve read them and what they recall and saw. (It’s really Walter Benjamin’s “The Task of the Translator” at its best.)
And here’s the thing, I think that the play at first glance seems, at the most surface level, plays at being commentary on class - on politics and ideology, but he [Chekov] sets almost every element against that idea? It's not about a class trying to defend itself even, or at least - that’s not the way I saw it?
I saw it as an ongoing commentary on change - the forces that drive it and the differing (or similar) forces it drives in turn. (Petya’s idealism, Anya’s hopes, Varya’s pragmatism, Lophankim’s ambition and both the cherished and hated memories of his youth, Lyubov’s love/compassion/whimsicality, Andreyovich’s inertia finally being overrun by the tidal forces) - similarly to identity, each character’s sense of or moment of change varies. Petya’s idealism drives him towards more and more radical ideas even as it drives him further and further into inaction… until the end of the play where the ending of The Cherry Orchard drives him back to university (finally). Anya’s the ingénue, the “angel” - both figuratively and literally, she accepts the change with open arms and flies right along with it, looking back however, constantly in concern and worry and all the love her mother and sister have embedded into her (yes, I may or may not have subconsciously embedded an "Angel of History" reference here). She’s going to meet progress head on, but she worries the tiniest bit about what it means for the others. Varya is pragmatic and rolls with the circumstances, always. Lyubov’s adoption of her long ago never erased her origins, but it does give her some light and the ability to fight a path into life. Some freedom and power and ability to stand on her own two feet - 100 rubles or 400, head of household or servant. She’s wrought to anguish over the changes that were coming, but in the aftermath, she holds steady on the course. Lyubov, arguably, has already faced the forces of change in her life - loss does that to you - and she’s returning to her old escape with distance and the illusion/reality of love, no matter how slim. I BELIEVE her when she says she loves the man who was a scoundrel who robbed her. Just as I believe her to be a genuinely loving and kind woman with flightiness and whimsicalness and carelessness (which can take the form of petty cruelty easily enough) abounding. She’s the cherry orchard not because she will stand forever in the face of change, but because she represents so much of the past in the lives of the people whose lives she has touched. Her act of kindness is the driving force to Lophankim’s change. That is the thing immediately made obvious to us in the opening scene, and the manner in which he’s chosen to interpret her wording of “poor” thing - words in a moment of carelessness more than likely, and a little head-over-heels in love with the memory of her and what she drove him to be ever since. He may accept his origins certainly, but more than anything, he’s celebrating a triumph not over a system (though that’s part of it, and certainly what’s made this moment possible - the purchase - in the first place), but a triumph over the past - his past. What his father who beat him when he was unable to defend himself could never accomplish, and she gave him that in a careless moment of kindness. He loves her for it (interpret that “love” however you would like).
When I read the little exhibit upstairs offering a bit of context for the play, the setting, and the theater and writer, I remember being really struck by the comment that Chekov’s play was about ambivalence towards change, or at least, on making any sort of moral judgement on it, and it’s true. Just look at the differing number of perspectives and voices and opinions on the characters and their actions that have resulted from even this one showing.
Also, can I just further comment on Mary’s acting in this play? The more I think about it, simply, the more IMPRESSED I am by it. The first telegram - it’s such a small thing, but of such significance later on. The child’s sleigh was obvious as a trigger and Petya being the fulcrum on which several of her more sever mood shifts occurred, and the retelling by the river… but that telegram, with all her love and disappointment and anger and disgust and sadness and lingering joy for home all mixed together at once in a single moment, and you see all of it flash across MM’s face in the span of a minute - not even. Seriously, who DOES that?! And you don’t even know why until an act later. *shakes head* That woman.
Of further note, other thoughts I’ve had during, after, and since: where is the background fanfic? Please? For Varya and Lyubov, because I want to know how all of that happens, because Varya is so deeply, obviously, her daughter - not of blood or even class or temperament no - that had I not read the character descriptions and caught that one line in the play where Lyubov explains her poor origins, I wouldn’t have known she was adopted. (In fact, there was one reviewer who did NOT catch it and thought Dunyasha, the maid, was Lyubov’s adopted daughter - and that’s how well everyone got along and was treated and/or how our own preconceived notions of how class-differences MUST have functioned for the aristocracy and their servants function…) Seriously, I want to see how all that came about and Varya’s inclusion into the family and how Anya became her little sister, her “angel”.
The Initial Incoherent Flailing:
At this point, I think I'm just going to copy and paste my initial post-play squeeing and flailing that I had typed up:
"The ENTIRE cast was just SPECTACULAR, and MM... well, what can I say about her? I think I had a bit of trouble with the extremely over-the-top/hilarious/giddy parts of Lyubov because they reminded me of her so much, but those moments where the mask and all the pretense falls away? When she's reminded of the bleaker circumstances of her life and losses?... Those just broke my heart a bit."
I actually do think of Lyubov as a powerful character because she bounces so quickly away from her vulnerabilities and frailness with such quick and practised denial and pretense, which can be a bit ridiculous, but her self-awareness of it makes all the difference. The emotional intelligence hits with such a sudden impact that I realized only after I had been struck the full emotional depth of this character that gives off such a strong sense of... frivolousness from the first moment you meet her. But she IS magnetic and charming, and you, as the audience, can totally understand why the rest of the cast of characters are so completely drawn into her. Her remarks can be petty and hurtful at times, but she's also so completely and genuinely kind and generous (even when she probably shouldn't be). :3
Olivia was so pretty and did an AMAZING job as Anya and playing the ingenue. David Strathairn was VERY convincing as the brother who talks too much. It was surprising because he so often plays the sort of male character that always only says JUST enough (literally every role I've seen him in so far). :3
And the rest of the Company was just SPECTACULAR. You could just see the experience and their trust in each other coming off the stage as a fully fleshed story coming to life. :)
Part II of Theatre!Spam/Splurge 2015: IF/THEN - MY GOSH THIS SHOW!
I saw it only a few weeks before The Cherry Orchard, but this is how good it was: it has managed to remain in my brain - not overwhelmed by The Cherry Orchard/MM spectacular-ness. I would even go so far to say that the opposite is equally true, I was actually worried that my "If/Then" experience would be an overwhelming factor and distract me from "The Cherry Orchard" - thankfully not, or not too much so, even if the soundtrack had been played on repeat for a few weeks. >>” That said, I also purchased music for The Cherry Orchard production by Melissa Dunphy (found here). I ADORED the strings in her work, and I honestly played those tracks on repeat as well when I was studying the previous week for midterms. <<" It was, however, a much better choice that the nigh-on "DOOM" sounding Mendelssohn organ pieces I was first listening to. XD
It’s a bit like Rent 2.0 (same composer/writer; Idina Menzel; Anthony Rapp; a Joanne-like character who knocks it OUT OF THE PARK; you get the picture), but it’s even MORE of a love poem to NYC - if possible - but look, there’s actually a SONG titled with matching stage setting to the complex map/network of the city’s subway system. The only thing lacking is the social commentary. It’s a lot less… "activist"/issues-driven - and a lot more about these specific characters - particularly Liz/Beth and where she is in life, and love, and loss, and work, etc. Though, honestly, that sort of character-driven storytelling was also full and rich in "Rent".
I know its run has long since ended, but I hope they will one day release a staged version of it with the original cast, because, honestly, I haven't fallen so hard for a Broadway musical since... Phantom? I think, which was my first. (I DO adore The Fiddler on the Roof though...) There's something about the story telling and the rich characters and "what-ifs" and all the possibilities that hit me in just the right way alongside the fantastic music (and the fantastic vocals of the cast). :) I actually waited outside post-show at the stage door for autographs... Despite the subzero temps. I couldn't feel my feet after that. XD
Part III:
I also saw another small, more "independent" play (ala "Cover" except in QUEENS, not Manhattan), which was also a great experience in terms of characters, changes over time, divergent choices (except no dual explorations of the possibilities in this one), and the way we connect and relate to others. It was called "the lighthouse invites the storm". Hence, this was a much cheaper show, but I enjoyed it greatly - especially as a weekend break from work. It also happened to be the day of a work marathon, so it was... just a good day. :)
Of note, I know this post at this point, on this day has come out of absolutely nowhere, but I hope you are all well - wherever you may be. I think after the events of the last day (and more), I've come to further appreciate the distance that the internet compresses between human beings, but at the same time, the utter powerlessness also at times to take action when things go horribly awry at still distant places.
*HUGS* ♥