Cherry Orchard
It’s difficult not to view Steppenwolf’s production of Cherry Orchard–translator Curt Columbus remains faithful to Russian convention by dumping the definite article–through the lens of critic Robert Brustein’s comment that the best of Chekhov’s works concern “the prostration of the cultured elite before the forces of darkness.” When one of the characters laments, “I’m a man of good, liberal values. No one thinks much of that now,” one remembers that the cultured elite got their asses kicked on November 2. But like the play itself, Tina Landau’s spirited, astute staging resists categorization. It’s to Chekhov’s credit if this production resonates with our sense that we’re on the brink of horrifying change, but Landau doesn’t push it.
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Though in Brustein’s construction Lopakin is a force of darkness, Yasen Peyankov’s masterful performance makes the character far more sympathetic than menacing. When he buys the orchard himself late in the play, his gloating speech about rising to power stings–but we also can’t help but feel that this pragmatic man (a compassionate conservative?) has perhaps earned the right to gloat. (Of course Lopakin’s hardheaded realism is nothing like the current administration’s free-spending fiscal policy.)
Where: Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 1650 N. Halsted
