The Cherry Orchard is our second play that we were given as a class. It was the last play Anton Chekhov wrote before he died in 1904. Chekhov was a Doctor and started writing to see him through medical school. He's someone who has seen a lot but, thought of people differently through status, affection and manner. The play does relate to his experiences and the way he thinks about Russia but, he learnt about with people who have different experiences.
What do I know about Naturalism so far?
Chekhov and Stanislavski are two Russian playwrights who we have explored but, are both followers of Naturalism.
ChekhovChekhov is one of the leaders in naturalistic drama writing. Before he pursed a career in journalism and writing short stories, he trained but, briefly worked as a Doctor.
His plays include naturalism which mirror real life and actually events that happened. The pause was vital in his plays as this device revealed a truth in the pause. An event can change nothing but, the characters in the play are effected "You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible." ( Brainquote.com ) For example in The Cherry Orchard Lyubov isn't sure about putting her trust and belief into Alexander hands about the estate. As a result, Alexander decides to save her debt but, manages to loose her trust life becomes impossible because she can't save the orchard either. Things become impossible when you don't trust others then becomes worth of how to trust yourself.
Relating it to the play "It's funny how sometimes the people you'd take a bullet for, are the one's behind the trigger." Alexander for a fact was defiantly the one behind the trigger and Lyubov would take a bullet for her family and household but, everyone would be effected in this event. When something is taken away from you, it's difficult to let go especially when the person who made the decision is the one you and everyone else trusted but, had a planning to ruin her.
Chekhov's plays related to his life. The Cherry Orchard was written from early 1901 to late 1903 and it was one of the last two plays he wrote. Since he has been diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1898, he had special care of seeing a Doctor regularly and was on the Mediterranean Island of Yalta. This was in order to spare his lungs.
Stanislavski
Stanislavski was different to Chekhov. Stanislavski didn't graduate as he continued to self-educate while travelling in Several European countries. He studied in museums and libraries, he's the leading practitioner of The System.
The System includes:
The Magic If - Stanislavski said that the character should ask the question "What should I do in this situation?" This means that the actor then puts themselves into the character's situation. This helps to motivate the character to play the role.
Imagination
Emotional memory - They actor finds a similar past experience that they could relate it with their character. The feelings can be "borrowed" to bring the character's feelings to life.
Actions - They could either be actions or gestures from what how the character should show themselves to be like.
Objectives - When the actor needs to achieve that target that was set for them.
These different techniques in The System is used to help train actors and actresses to draw believable and realistic emotions throughout their performances.
Exploring The Cherry Orchard play
As a class we had a read-through for everyone to all learn about before we got the characters. I thought it was helpful so we could discuss about the play with my other peers as I did understand the play but, wanted to get a better understanding. So, I did some research about the context, the characters and play The Cherry Orchard by using www.sparknotes.com which helped me to learn about the play better and it was broken down easier than a site like Wikipedia. This play is very difficult to not only perform but, the style I found was difficult to think about.
After we got given the scripts of which scenes we would do, we when then told our characters. I found out the character I was given is the governess called Charlotta. Next we got into groups of which act we were in however, I was put in Act 1 for the moment even if I had one line but, Karen decided to add the servant scene to Act 1 in so I would have a bit more to say and a chance to perform her monologue in the way Chekhov sees Charlotta to be like.
I have struggled this character a lot. It's difficult to see what she's like but, after researching her it turns out that she is a lonely character that doesn't really fit in. I also found out she's an orphan but, her parents were both travelling performers
Plantonov
Karen took us to see Plantonov which was one of the 4 part plays at the Chichester Festival Theatre. This was because if we watched a play performed it would help us the way the actors use naturalism and how Chekhov's plays work, We were told to look out to see if any of the characters could relate to the character in the Cherry Orchard. I couldn't see anyone or relate to anyone from the characters in the play. I didn't feel that my character was in anyway like them at all.
The pauses were good like the time Plantonov was sitting outside his house alone thinking. It was effective and realistic because it was something that someone would naturally do when they are alone. Some people are looking to escape from where they are, Plantonov was trying to escape from lots of different woman and work out what he would need work out to achieve his objective at the end of the play. However, a powerful pause would be after something dramatic happens e.g. when Plantonov is shot. The silence may be deafening but, it can give an intense imagery and reveal a deeper meaning to the play.
I loved the lighting and scenery. The way that that by the lighting you could tell by what time of day it was whether it was the evening, the morning or the afternoon. The detail that the lighting designer, director and stage manager not just thought about the whole picture but, also thought about the individual pictures to make it realistic.
The similarities were that both plays introduced us to a female landowner who owned the estate. Also the characters relate to Chekhov when he lost the estate. However, Lyubov relates to him more as she also planted a cherry tree like Chekhov did so, the memories were powerful and it was difficult to erase the pain when it was cut down.
The idea I pictured of what our play was going to look like with furniture I imagined with wooden furniture and we could add the lighting dimming or brightening to show the time of day it was than have the same light throughout the play. Lightening can be a key to show how we can show the light to be a realistic part of this play.
These different techniques in The System is used to help train actors and actresses to draw believable and realistic emotions throughout their performances.
Exploring The Cherry Orchard play
As a class we had a read-through for everyone to all learn about before we got the characters. I thought it was helpful so we could discuss about the play with my other peers as I did understand the play but, wanted to get a better understanding. So, I did some research about the context, the characters and play The Cherry Orchard by using www.sparknotes.com which helped me to learn about the play better and it was broken down easier than a site like Wikipedia. This play is very difficult to not only perform but, the style I found was difficult to think about.
After we got given the scripts of which scenes we would do, we when then told our characters. I found out the character I was given is the governess called Charlotta. Next we got into groups of which act we were in however, I was put in Act 1 for the moment even if I had one line but, Karen decided to add the servant scene to Act 1 in so I would have a bit more to say and a chance to perform her monologue in the way Chekhov sees Charlotta to be like.
I have struggled this character a lot. It's difficult to see what she's like but, after researching her it turns out that she is a lonely character that doesn't really fit in. I also found out she's an orphan but, her parents were both travelling performers
Plantonov
Karen took us to see Plantonov which was one of the 4 part plays at the Chichester Festival Theatre. This was because if we watched a play performed it would help us the way the actors use naturalism and how Chekhov's plays work, We were told to look out to see if any of the characters could relate to the character in the Cherry Orchard. I couldn't see anyone or relate to anyone from the characters in the play. I didn't feel that my character was in anyway like them at all.
The pauses were good like the time Plantonov was sitting outside his house alone thinking. It was effective and realistic because it was something that someone would naturally do when they are alone. Some people are looking to escape from where they are, Plantonov was trying to escape from lots of different woman and work out what he would need work out to achieve his objective at the end of the play. However, a powerful pause would be after something dramatic happens e.g. when Plantonov is shot. The silence may be deafening but, it can give an intense imagery and reveal a deeper meaning to the play.
I loved the lighting and scenery. The way that that by the lighting you could tell by what time of day it was whether it was the evening, the morning or the afternoon. The detail that the lighting designer, director and stage manager not just thought about the whole picture but, also thought about the individual pictures to make it realistic.
The similarities were that both plays introduced us to a female landowner who owned the estate. Also the characters relate to Chekhov when he lost the estate. However, Lyubov relates to him more as she also planted a cherry tree like Chekhov did so, the memories were powerful and it was difficult to erase the pain when it was cut down.
The idea I pictured of what our play was going to look like with furniture I imagined with wooden furniture and we could add the lighting dimming or brightening to show the time of day it was than have the same light throughout the play. Lightening can be a key to show how we can show the light to be a realistic part of this play.
What is The Cherry Orchard about? What's the significance of The Cherry Orchard?
The Cherry Orchard symbolises different thoughts from each character in the play. For example, it reminds Lyubov of her memories from her youth when she says "I feel like a little girl again." She doesn't want to loose it because it's something precious to her so, cutting it down would not just kill the cherry orchard but, part of her heart would break too. However, her friend Alexander wants to cut down the cherry orchard to make a fortune and doesn't understand how much this orchard is worth to Lyubov.
Chekhov's past relates to this because he knew about cherry trees and planted a cherry tree on an estate in Melikhovo and had purchased it in 1982. However, not long later he lost the estate and the new owner cut down the cherry trees. So you can see where he got the idea of the play that is related to his experiences.
The Cherry Orchard is a paradise that Lyubov never wants to be lost. Convincing him is difficult because all Alexander's cares about is the money that he'll get than the beauty of this orchard. His difficult childhood pushes him to the direction of killing this wonderful creation.
The difficulties of both characters relate to memory and loss which is two of the themes in this play.
19th Century Russia
19th Century Russia was a time of great change.
Music
The choice of music that could have been used to introduce our play could be something sound sad but, something with meaning of life to being with. The old Russian song "Why are you so sad, Maria?" The song sounds like a good way to open the play. I could imagine it relating to The Cherry Orchard and the way it could reflect on the memory but, also the character's who have lost something precious to them. It feels like this song represents the pain, memory and the way each character reflects on who they really are. It could also work as the music for the end of the play to be like a reflection of the past but, a way that life still carries on. I think this music may be a good thing to use if we ever going to do another Russian play but, I feel that it is quite sad for the beginning of the play.
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| The blossom on the cherry trees |
The Cherry Orchard is set in 19th Century Russia when a family return to the estate to find out that they don't have long to find a way to owe the bank their debt. It leads to only one solution which is to auction the estate. However, The Cherry Orchard is shown to be the most valuable and precious memorable thing that it's struggle for Lyubov the household owner to let go. It's going to be a complicated and difficult decision to make especially when the Cherry Orchard holds so many memories. Something's our precious back in the past but, not always precious in the future.
Chekhov's past relates to this because he knew about cherry trees and planted a cherry tree on an estate in Melikhovo and had purchased it in 1982. However, not long later he lost the estate and the new owner cut down the cherry trees. So you can see where he got the idea of the play that is related to his experiences.
The Cherry Orchard is a paradise that Lyubov never wants to be lost. Convincing him is difficult because all Alexander's cares about is the money that he'll get than the beauty of this orchard. His difficult childhood pushes him to the direction of killing this wonderful creation.
The difficulties of both characters relate to memory and loss which is two of the themes in this play.
19th Century Russia
19th Century Russia was a time of great change.
Music
The choice of music that could have been used to introduce our play could be something sound sad but, something with meaning of life to being with. The old Russian song "Why are you so sad, Maria?" The song sounds like a good way to open the play. I could imagine it relating to The Cherry Orchard and the way it could reflect on the memory but, also the character's who have lost something precious to them. It feels like this song represents the pain, memory and the way each character reflects on who they really are. It could also work as the music for the end of the play to be like a reflection of the past but, a way that life still carries on. I think this music may be a good thing to use if we ever going to do another Russian play but, I feel that it is quite sad for the beginning of the play.
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