Stanislavsky's Production Score for Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (1904): A Synoptic Overview

Abstract

In many ways, the Moscow Art Theatre's production of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard was the most problematic and contentious of all its efforts to stage his plays. Events surrounding the composition of the play and its staging were not propitious. Chekhov wrote it over a prolonged period during which he was an increasingly sick man; the premiere, in January 1904. was closely followed by the dramatist's death in July. What is more, Chekhov's dissatisfaction with the production was couched in terms of frustration and anger unlike anything to be found elsewhere in his correspondence. The extent to which these sentiments can be attributed to his illness, rather than to real inadequacies in the interpretation, compounds the difficulties that the play and the production jointly present.