The Marywood Theater Department is preparing to present “The Cherry Orchard,” which centers around a Russian aristocrat who returns to her family’s cherry orchard.
The play opens with Madame Ranevskaya, the aristocrat, who returns to her Russian estate with debt. She is forced to make difficult decisions to preserve her family’s home.
Dealing with themes of class, power and change, Dr. Timothy Pyles, M.F.A., believed that this was the perfect time to produce this play.
“It feels like the old is gone, but we don’t quite know what’s new yet… Everything is uncertain, everything is in flux, and to me that’s what I connect in terms of how things feel in our society in the moment,” he said.
Senior Rowan Flannery plays Firs Nikolayevitch, the serf of the estate; his role shows the unwillingness to change. Serfs in Tsarist Russia were peasants for the aristocrats, comparable to slaves.
A line that stuck out to Flannery was, “The serfs had masters, the masters had serfs, and now everything is confused, you can’t understand a thing.” Now, times have changed, society has shifted, and the characters have to find their footing in it.
Senior Jocelyn Hittle plays Madame Ranevskaya and, in her words, says her role “represents the old aristocracy of Russia.” Her character is rustled with her past, and she feels like she must pay for what has happened. Just like Firs Nikolayevitch, she holds onto the nostalgia of her family’s cherry orchard.
The play is a powerful message about how money changes the dynamics of our world. Hittle adds, “I think money kills beauty, and beauty should be beautiful just for the sake of being.”
The showings for this Marywood musical are at the Sette LaVerghetta Center on Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. and a matinee on Oct. 5 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $15 for the general public. Admission is free for Marywood students, faculty, staff and IHM sisters. Tickets can be purchased in advance here or at the door.
Make sure to see Marywood’s “The Cherry Orchard” to see how the story unfolds.
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