Demarco Foundation, Churchill Theatre

Theatre

An early play of Chekhov’s was called The Wood Demon. Forest. Forest demons are exactly what the men, costumed as if for pantomime, look like in this Moscow production of, The Cherry Orchard directed by Boris Yukhananov. The women, on  the other hand, are sumptuously Edwardian, both in dress, and looks. Suitably elegant in a slinky black dress, Ranyevskaya is accompanied by her brother, Gayev, looking like the knave from a suit of cards. Together with acrobatic acting and discordant sounds from piano and tubular bells, this Cherry Orchard is a visual and aural feast, succulent as the cherries described by the old servant, Firs, even if also disconcerting.

Yukhananov comprehensively rejects, in short, any hint of realism. As British productions of Chekhov's last masterpiece tend to follow its first director, the great realist Stanislavsky, as their model,  this will not be to everyone’s taste.

Emotions, in general, are stylised rather than realised realistically. Yukhananov’s stated . aim is to bring back a sense of spiritual transcendence, to demonstrate that the cherry orchard itself is actually indestructible, because It is more an ideal than a reality.- Superb acting from all concerned makes Yukhananov’s Cherry Orchard achieve moments of startling, poignant, beauty, but it does not entirely succeed in overthrowing Stanislavsky.