(seen at the afternoon performance on 11th May 2024)
Just last week there was an unusual accusation levied by the author of a failed musical that West End audiences are unable to appreciate anything deviating from the “norm” of “national theatre” (you may capitalise if you wish).
A highly appreciative reception of this revised Chekhov this afternoon proves, to the monkey mind at least, that audiences differentiate discerningly between wheat and chaff - without an aggrieved writer’s rantings.
Director Benedict Andrews and designer Magda Willi invite us into the bosom of a family in trouble. Merle Hensel’s costume designs put us firmly in the 1970s, with all the louche creativity that signifies.
An extended family gather on their estate, which is being sold to ease their debts. Adeel Akhtar’s wonderfully energetic Poundland megalomaniac Lopakhin is keen to facilitate the sale, but family resistance runs high as memories of their grounds, particularly the Cherry Orchard, are too close to lose.
Andreevich (Nina Hoss) is the slightly bewildered mother who allows 100 roubles to find its way to a homeless boy (Alfie Tempest) even as daughter Varya (Marli Siu) points out her carelessness means not feeding their family.
The contrast between Hoss and Siu is strong, Hoss’s relaxed approach to life is tinged with the resignation of the inevitable. Siu by contrast carries a mixture of grief and hope. Both hold the emotional centre, with second daughter Anya (Sadie Soverall) cast younger to provide the energy of youth (even if she is always symbolically tired) and welcome passion.
Strong work from Sibyllic speaking Daniel Monks as tutor Pyotr Trofimov Sergeevich and Eanna Hardwicke as Semyon Yepikhodov Panteleevich are the social and political drivers, providing wider context for the behaviour and suffering of the family and introducing a contemporary ecological slant to the piece.
Most important, Michael Gould turns in a stunning Leonid Gaev Andreevich, for whom the world is a snooker table which distracts him from the pain of life and represents eras past, alongside June Watson as Firs - forgotten yet a key link with history.
Augmented by the wider cast, this is not the lazy decay “The Cherry Orchard” usually provides. Some are going down fighting, and it is instability within the world and family always felt and discussed.
The acts flow together freely, the rigidity of the plotting is buried in sudden changes of visual pace and directorial tone. Insignificant moments in the original become larger set-pieces, important moments are reduced in presence yet amplified in other ways – the symbolic hiding under carpets, literally, in one case.
If the relationships between characters, and indeed some of their motivations are a little hard to make out in the busy early scenes, we tune in as it progresses. We are left with a refreshingly revitalising angle on a Russian classic, which makes excellent use of studio theatre intimacy to deliver its surprising impact.
Another unique reason to visit the Donmar, if you can get a ticket.
