“If you are a fan of Chekhov or Owen, then this may be the play for you“
Fiona Hallenan-Barker
3 axes out of 5
Old Fitz
Sydney
Now is the winter of Chekhovian discontent with adaptations of The Cherry Orchard and Uncle Vanya playing in Sydney until the end of the month. The cost of progress, the inequity of the class system and the failure of capitalism are under the microscope in Secret House’s latest production of The Cherry Orchard at the Old Fitz.
Gary Owen, award winning playwright and poet, has taken Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard and transposed it to his home country of Wales back in 1982, when Maggie Thatcher was at the height of her power but the coal miners of Wales had yet to come under attack. It is a fascinating and bruising time in Welsh history. Writer Owen is selecting portions of the theatrical canon to relocate to Wales with Chekhov, Shakespeare and Euripides in the spotlight. Romeo and Julie and the multiple award-winning Iphigenia in Splott are both currently in season at Melbourne’s Red Stitch Theatre.
Owen’s Cherry Orchard is a good fit for the troubled times of the eighties. He places grief and loss at the centre of this family tragicomedy. At the heart of the story is the matriarch of the family Rainey, played with gravitas by Deborah Galanos. She has been dragged back to her family home in Pembrokeshire by her daughters due to mounting debt. The family house, orchard, and estate must either be saved or be sold but Rainey has been drinking herself to oblivion for years due to the death of her son. She has spent the family fortune and is more concerned with topping up her wine glass than making financial decisions.
Rainey’s family come together to try and sort out the mess. Daughter Anya (Amelia Parsonson) is the posh party girl living in London who hides her fragility under a flippant veneer. Adopted daughter Valerie (Jane Angarad) is stuck looking after the estate, her constant bleak outlook matching the misery of the situation. Uncle Gabriel (Charles Mayer) is a breath of fresh air. The older foppish brother of Rainey appears to have stepped straight out of a P. G. Wodehouse novel on to the stage. The scenes between Gabriel and Rainey are poignant and hilarious, their portrayal of the lasts gasps of landed gentry have lashings of charm and showcase their wit.
The pervasive rising of individualism against the welfare state in Thatcher’s Britain is symbolised by local developer Lewis (Dorje Swallow) the cringeworthy boyfriend of Valerie whose grandfather was evicted so that the cherry orchard could be built on the land. Beautiful young Anya is also given a love interest when her old tutor Ceri (James Smithers) turns up, a young socialist who seizes every moment of family misfortune to spout slogans on the downfall of the upper classes. Despite his ideology he plans to use his dole money and a large cash injection from Anya to fuel his entrepreneurial dreams. Added to this mix is house maid Dottie, played admirably by Talia Benetar, who has been with the family for as long as anyone can remember and anticipates their every need. She is the daughter Rainey never had with her acerbic humour complimenting Rainey’s drunken meanderings. But in the end working class Dottie is a product of her situation and is as cold hearted as she proclaims.
The element of Chekhov’s gun is the contract of sale of the estate, it is displayed, handled and thrust about while the clock counts down to the auction. The family carries on believing that somehow it will all be okay, but it isn’t. For years Thatchers “right to buy” scheme allowed sale of government housing at reduced prices to pay off large budget deficits. The knock-on effect of the rise in property prices and the lack of social housing still has a major impact on people today. Perhaps this is why The Cherry Orchard is a poignant allegory of the rise of the socially mobile middle classes.
The Welsh stoicism sounds comedic but Owen’s adaptation swings between a tragic ghost story and a romping family saga. It is a world of memory and sadness where nobody knows how to care for each other or themselves. The suffering of each of the characters seems endless. Like Konstantin Stanislavski did with Chekhov, director Anthony Skuse has approached Owen’s lyricism and poetic imagery through the lens of tragedy rather than comedy. He adeptly propels the family through the action to the inevitable end.
The dark, damp Old Fitz provides an appropriate background to James Smithers drafty old country house set design. A well-timed mouse would not go astray running along the panelled walls. The large cast are confined to a selection of mis matched furniture and furnishings that functionally fill the space. Topaz Marley-Cole lights the space well and Johnny Yang’s sound design holds some snappy tunes. At times the sound design is in competition with the raucous revelry of the pub next door and the rhythm of the play can be inconsistent, In the second half the tension builds but we still occasionally fall through the gaps where dialogue should create fluidity. The breaking of the fourth wall at the end of the play sits uncomfortably, after the audience have invested so much time with the family it feels unresolved.
When Anton Chekhov wrote The Cherry Orchard for the Moscow Arts Theatre he drew on a wealth of personal experiences with orchards, duplicitous builders, a destitute mother, and the death of a sibling. Owen’s deep understanding of Welsh history and lyricism adds another layer of meaning to this adaptation. If you are a fan of Chekhov or Owen, then this may be the play for you
Fiona Hallenan-Barker, Theatre Now
Photo © Braiden Toko
