THE BLOSSOMS DO EVENTUALLY BLOOM
IN THIS ORCHARD
Russian playwright Anton Chekhov believed his classic 1904 drama The Cherry Orchard was a comedy bordering on farce, but generations of audiences, scholars, and reviewers have leaned toward the play (as well Chekhov’s other major works for the stage) as melancholy pieces filled with frustrated characters enduring lives of disappointment, loss, and futility. North Coast Repertory Theatre is reviving The Cherry Orchard, recognizing the play as a blend of comedy and near tragedy.
Ken Barton, Katie MacNichol, Bruce Turk, Amanda Evans
The North Coast staging will require tolerance from the audience, at least early on. The production suffers from miscasting in a few roles and an uneven level of acting. But the production finds its artistic stroke about halfway through the performance and climaxes with a scintillating final act that should satisfy the most demanding Chekhovian zealots.
Sofia Jean Gomez, Michael Louis Cusimano, Katy Tang, Jackson Goldberg
Chekhov sets his play on the country estate of Madame Renevskaya, an aristocratic matriarch returning from a five-year stay in Paris. The flighty and spendthrift woman has accumulated huge debts that threaten her ownership of the estate. Either she comes up with a small fortune in a matter of days or her estate will be sold at auction. The fate of the orchard is the straw that stirs the plot.
Katie MacNichol (seated), Michael Raver, Sofia Jean Gomez & Ted Barton
There are 14 major characters in The Cherry Orchard. The play contains virtually no physical action, with the characters spending much of their time in often heated debates on social issues as well as ultimately futile attempts at love affairs. Everyone seems continually at cross purposes, allowing happiness to slip through their fingers because they are too stubborn to save themselves.
Bruce Turk, Richard Baird & Katie MacNichol
The play ends, like other Chekhov dramas, with characters departing on long journeys that will separate them for life. Most of the characters, those who depart and those who remain, presumably will continue to be burdened by their maddening inability to free themselves from their malaise to forcefully act in their own interest.
Katie MacNichol & Riley Osburn
Director David Ellenstein has selected the modern translation by Jean-Claude van Itallie that is at its best in the scenes of intense arguments. The perennial student Trofimov grabs the stage with his passionate pleas for social justice and rages at the failures of the self-serving Russian society of the day. Michael Raver’s Trofimov is largely responsible for the escalation of dramatic interest in the second half of the play. He is joined by Katie MacNichol’s commanding performance as Madame Ranevskaya, a flighty and selfish matriarch who displays the inner resources of a born survivor.
Sofia Jean Gomez & Jackson Goldberg
Jackson Goldberg is first-rate as Yepikhodov a comic figure who is doomed to being one of life’s losers. There is also an amusing cameo performance by Sofia Jean Gomez, injecting an almost manic energy into her role as a governess who seems to have burst in from another play. Amanda Evans had the audience groaning in sympathy as a servant who stands on stage watching her only chance at happiness evaporate as the man she yearns for gets cold feet at the last minute.
Richard Baird & Amanda Evans
The intimate North Coast Rep playing space offers only limited opportunities for visual efforts, but Marty Burness creatively suggests a cherry orchard through semi-abstract panels. Elisa Benzoni’s costume designs nicely capture the time frame of the early 1900s in rural Russia.
(front) Bruce Turk, Riley Osburn, Katie MacNichol, Amanda Evans
(back) Michael Raver, Richard Baird
The matinee audience seemed well-satisfied with the production from the first to the last scene so I may be in the minority who found the first half of the production lacking in its performance level. But this is a demanding play and director Ellenstein and his ensemble have given Chekhov’s drama a brave try, and the final hour of the show does work beautifully.
photos by Ken Jacques
North Coast Repertory Theatre
987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive in Solana Beach
Wed at 7; Thurs & Fri at 7:30; Sat at 2 & 7:30; Sun at 2 & 7:30
ends on April 2, 2023
for tickets, call 858.481-1055 or visit North Coast Rep