THERE are a number of reasons to celebrate the Galleon Theatre Company’s production of Anton Chekhov’s final play.
Not only is it 150 years since the acclaimed Russian playwright’s birth, but the show marks the theatre group’s 20th anniversary and Greenwich Playhouse’s 15th birthday.
Unfortunately, despite an excellent cast and a beautifully simple but effective set, The Cherry Orchard is not the triumph ambitious director Bruce Jamieson was hoping to achieve.
Set in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, the play opens with the return of the aristocratic Ranyevskaia (Maggie Daniels) and her family to their estate after a sojourn in Paris.
Crippled by debt, the family are faced with an agonizing choice — sell their beloved cherry orchard to pay the mortgage or lose their home.
But instead of taking descisive action to secure the future of their property, the family sit idly by, preferring to wax lyrical about their financial troubles until the ax finally falls on their plot of fruit trees.
Exploring the aristocracy’s inertia and inability to let go of the past and embrace the modern world, the play is a study of the social and economic forces at work in Russia at the time.
The Playhouse’s intimate size can be either a gift or a curse and in this production it is a little of both.
Like a magnifying glass, the audience is privy to the minutest of expressions on the actors’ faces and the finer details of plot and character development are explored in intense detail.
Although this is sometimes stifling, the fine cast are charming enough to genuinely engage the audience.
Nik Drake as the idealistic Trofimov is delightfully whistful, while Jason Denyer's Gayev is the eccentric and child-like Gayev, obliviously sucking boiled sweets while the future of their precious orchard hangs precariously in the balance.
Suzanne Goldberg is superb as the overly-serious Varia and Clare McMahon’s bubbly Ania is the epitome of youthful innocence.
Daniels steals the show, however, effortlessly playing the frivolous mother with warmth and conviction.
However, some characters appear oddly removed, with little purpose in the story.
A Bohemian dressed Charlotta appears and disappears, breaking into random song and dance, but we never really understand who or what she is.
For all its faults, The Cherry Orchard remains an enjoyable piece of theatre and although the fruits of Galleon’s labour may not be quite ripe, it is still worth sinking your teeth into.
The Cherry Orchard. Greenwich Playhouse, Greenwich High Road. Until April 25. 020 8858 9256.
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