'Madame Ranevskaya is fresh out of love and money. After a failed romance, she returns to the family farm in Manjimup. Faced with impending bankruptcy, the vast and beautiful cherry orchard is soon to be auctioned off against her mounting debts. It’s time to call in the family.
'The Cherry Orchard is Anton Chekhov’s last great masterpiece and this new one-act adaptation by Adriane Daff and Katherine Tonkin, directed by Clare Watson, revels in the comedy of inevitable catastrophes. Overflowing with charm, a touch of the 1980s and a self-absorbed ensemble of Kath-and-Kim characters. This spirited adaptation looks at those who become victims of their own privilege.'
Source: Black Swan Theatre Company.
Set to be presented by the Black Swan Theatre Company of Western Australia, 9 - 31 May 2020, at the Heath Ledger Theatre.
Director: Clare Watson.
Sound Designer/Composer: Ash Gibson Greig.
Lighting Designer: Lucy Birkinshaw.
Set & Costume Designer: Zoë Atkinson.
Cast: Adriane Daff, Angela Mahlatjie, Brendan Hanson, Bridie McKim, George Shevtsov, Humphrey Bower, Ian Wilkes, Kieran Clancy-Lowe, Michelle Fornasier, and Sam Longley.
Production postponed, but not initially cancelled, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Presented by Black Swan Theatre Company of Western Australia, 17 February - 14 March 2021.
Director: Clare Watson.
Associate Director: Ian Michael.
Set & Costume Designer: Zoë Atkinson.
Lighting Designer: Lucy Birkinshaw.
Cast: Adriane Daff, Brendan Hanson, Bridie McKim, George Shevtsov, Humphrey Bower, Kieran Clancy-Lowe, Katherine Tonkin, Michelle Fornasier, Ben Mortley, and Sam Longley.
'The BBQ is lit, the vodka is poured... it's time to party like it's 1988… or is it?'
'A classic story updated to interrogate race, gender and sexuality.'
'Stories get told over and over, each version sitting atop every other in a never-ending palimpsest. Extracting and extending the metaphors of Anton Chekhov’s classic 1904 play The Cherry Orchard, this production adapted by Adriane Daff and Katherine Tonkin and directed by Clare Watson is as much about its staging at a former hospital as it is about the story and characters.' (Introduction)
'Stories get told over and over, each version sitting atop every other in a never-ending palimpsest. Extracting and extending the metaphors of Anton Chekhov’s classic 1904 play The Cherry Orchard, this production adapted by Adriane Daff and Katherine Tonkin and directed by Clare Watson is as much about its staging at a former hospital as it is about the story and characters.' (Introduction)
'A classic story updated to interrogate race, gender and sexuality.'
'The BBQ is lit, the vodka is poured... it's time to party like it's 1988… or is it?'