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The Cherry Orchard tells the story of a mother returning to her native home of Russia, to save her family home, the dynamics between family members and the cost of staying in the past.
This play, presented by Flywheel Theatre Company, is part of REP: Radical classical which celebrates Riverside Studios 50th Anniversary. It is part of a five-week season with a different play each week. It is fitting that Chekhov’s ‘The Cherry Orchard’ is the first play, as when the Riverside Studios opened in 1976 it was the first play to be shown.
The five members of the Ensemble who are in every production for the five weeks, were joined by 3 satellite actors, Maggie Bain as Lubov, Elliot Pritchard as Gaev and Paul Bentall and Fiers.
These three actors were standouts for myself alongside Jaemon Anthony Crosby who portrayed a brilliant and witty student, Trofimov who never seemed to stop wanting to study and being teased about it throughout the show.
If you are unfamiliar with the show as I was and you go to the show expecting to hear the authentic accents of Russian’s of which when you read the synopsis you may think you will get, then think again. A mixture of accents from northern to London could be heard, which for me made the story easier to follow.
The entertaining character of Fiers, kept the show light and comical. Just as parts of the show started to dip his witty humour came in and lightened things up. Fiers is an elderly man who is deaf and struggling with dementia, who has looked after the family all their life, is seemingly left behind making the ending one of sorrow.
The story, whilst mostly easy to follow, had moments of which could be slowed down. It was hard to keep up with who was who in the beginning and the relationship between each member. As the show went on mentioning of names such as Uncle and brother made it easier to establish but on first introduction it was not clear.
The staging of the play was minimalist but showed that of what you believed was an older Russian house. Lights were used to go from day to night giving a subtle atmospheric effect.
However, the only part for myself that let the lighting down was a small spotlight just off stage and down at knee height which from the seat I was in, was directed directly at me for the whole performance. Actors in the beginning blocked it out at parts but as fewer actors were on stage this became more difficult meaning that I had to look away from quite a few scenes.
For accessibility, whilst level throughout and seats were available on the flat, I moved before the performance started as the seats I was originally allocated meant my chair encroached on the actors space and would have made it difficult for them to get around me.
Overall, it was a good play with just a few tweaks needed. For my first time watching a play since I was at school, I was impressed at the speed the time went and the engagement I felt.
The Cherry Orchard is running until the 12th September at the Riverside Studio’s Hammersmith, but you can continue to see other productions from REP: Radical Classical until the 10th October with the next show ‘The School for Wives’ running from the 15th-19th September.
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Reviewed by Victoria-Jayne Scholes for The Theatre Flyer
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