SYNOPSIS
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The Cherry OrchardCelebrated director, Sam Mendes, will return to the West End to direct a ground-breaking Anglo-US venture, The Bridge Project; a three year partnership involving the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Neal Street Productions and the theatre in which The Cherry Orchard will be performed; The Old Vic. Chekov’s classic text will be brought to life by a formidable group of actors and will run for 3 months.
The last play of Russian playwright, Anton Chekov, The Cherry Orchard focuses upon an aristocratic Russian woman, named Madame Ranevskaya. The aristocrat returns to her estate along with her family just before the land is due to go to auction to pay off the family’s mortgage. The family are faced with several choices; which one will the family choose or will they choose to do nothing at all? If they don’t, the cherry orchard in the estate’s grounds is in serious trouble.
Sam Mendes attracted interested in his work before the age of 25, when his production of The Cherry Orchard in the West End starred Judi Dench. Since then, Mendes has directed several productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company including The Tempest and Richard III. He has also directed several plays at the National Theatre such as The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, as well as Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party. Mendes was the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse from 1992 and in 2003 started the film and theatre production company, Neal Street Productions, who are an associate of The Bridge Project. His film debut, American Beauty, won the Academy Award for Best Picture and won Mendes the award for Best Director.
Yermolai Alexeievitch Lopakhin, the richest character in the play and a merchant by trade, will be portrayed by Simon Russell Beale who has worked with Mendes for both the RSC and the National. Beale played the title role in Macbeth during a run at the Almedia Theatre, as well as portraying King Arthur in the West End musical, Spamalot; a role which he also played on Broadway.
The Bridge Project, who are behind the production of The Cherry Orchard, will perform Chekhov’s play along with William Shakespeare’s The Winter Tale. Before arriving at The Old Vic, the project will play at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in the first three months of 2009 before travelling to Singapore, New Zealand, Spain and Germany.
The Cherry Orchard appears at The Old Vic from the 23rd May 2009 to 15th August 2009.
