• Escape From the Garden (Hommage to Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard 120th Anniversary)

УДК: 821.161.1-2

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2023-4-121-155

EDN: PABEPZ

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Marina G. Litavrina

D. Sc. in Art Studies, Leading Researcher of Laboratory of Cultural History at History Department, Lomonosov Mоscow State University, University, professor of the Department of Russian Theatre History
Lomonosov Mоscow State University, Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS)
Moscow, Russia
E-mail: itavrina55@gmail.com

Escape From the Garden (Hommage to Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard 120th Anniversary)

Abstract

The article was inspired by the talks and arguments with students and young theatre managers. The author is reflecting the widespread misunderstanding of the basic principles of Chekhov’s drama. Thus, the reference to Chekhov’s plays, such as The Cherry Orchard, and its analysis, was inevitable. Along with stage achievements in this sphere, some current interpretations present the plays of the most world-popular Russian playwright of the 20th century merely as an example of commercial drama. Author’s vision therefore is focused upon the key principles of Chekhov’s drama poetics, and mainly upon the actuality of The Cherry Orchard, that was written 120 years ago. The structure of the article deals with three main parts and points: the first one is devoted to drama analysis and contemporary eco of its problematics, including discussions in Russian criticism and current foreign interpretations. The second part draws attention to the circumstances of the famous opening night at the Moscow Art Theatre, January 1904, and analyses the reasons for disagreement between the author of the play and his beloved theatre. In the third part the author is presenting and quoting newly published or forgotten documentary materials on the last days of the writer, who died in Badenweiler, Germany, July, 1904. This research about The Cherry Orchard brings the author to a conclusion that the play is the greatest Chekov’s drama work in multiple and new senses. It is a real author’s insight, as Chekhov proved to be an outstanding prophet in the field of the 20–21st century history, and forecasted the future being and state of mind of Russian intelligentsia.

Keywords

A.P. Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard, Russian theatre, Russian literature, Russian emigration, drama poetics, intelligentsia.

For citation

Litavrina M.G. Escape From the Garden. (Hommage to Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard 120th Anniversary). Theatre. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music. 2023, no. 4, pp. 121–155.

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2023-4-121-155

EDN PABEPZ

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Received: 28.08.2023

Revised: 01.11.2023

Accepted: 11.11.2023