The Cherry Orchard...

I went to see THE Cherry Orchard at the Crucible theatre with a friend. It was a comedy set in the early 1900s about the downfall of a Russian aristocratic family. It was really enjoyable... perhaps because of the stress I've been having this week... I really laughed out loud at the jokes today. :> I quite enjoyed the plot... but I guess it's meaning did not struck me as much because I had zero knowledge of the Russian revolution and how it changed the lives of serfs (servants) and their masters...The Cherry Orchard was the last play written by a Russian playwright, Chekhov.

I did something I never did before though... when I went to the theatre. My friend is is an expert in theatre and the arts. She's a big fan of the lady who played the Russian aristocrat in the play... Joanna Lumley... and we stayed on in the bar afterwards to catch a glimpse of the actors in their 'real skins'. haha I was trying not to stare... as the actors and actresses who played some of the characters I quite liked were there...

The story...

Madam Ranevskaya was the rich owner of a Cherry Orchard. She was ruined when her parisian lover stole her money... and she had to sell the Cherry Orchard to pay off her debts. Lopahkin, a merchant came up with a business proposal to save her family land by transforming the land into a summer holiday stay. She refused change and certainly was not agreeble to cutting down the cherry trees... Moreover, she carried on with her frivolous spending and expensive parties. In the end... the merchant bought over the land at the auction and she and her family had to move out and find their own means of survival.

Serious story line aside... there was a bit of the story about the mechant and Madame Ranevskaya's daughter, who supposedly loved each other. The businessman never revealed his feelings... and even when he was given the greenligh by Madame Ranevskaya to ask for her daughter's hand in marriage, he did not... When the two were left alone... they just talked about mundane things and he was called away by a servant... The story ended with the lady leaving the Cherry Orchard for a new life...