Cherry Orchard
1128A Intro to Theatre
Plays & Playwrights Form
Winter 2014
Name: Nathan Whitfield
1. Title of the play: The Cherry Orchard
2. Author of the play: Chekov
3. Setting: Russia
4. Time: 1890’s
5. Theme: (NOT THE STORY LINE! – what is the play REALLY about?)
The theme of the play has been thought to be the struggle over memory. I would have to agree with this idea. Throughout the play you learn of painful memories that the characters have had and how they are desperately trying to forget them. However, some people don’t want to forget the past, they want to forget their present and future. For example, Ranevsky wants to do away with the hardships she has to face and go back to a time where she can be happy, even though she herself struggles with the memories of her son’s death. It is this struggle of wanting to remember and forget that is apparent throughout the play.
6. Main Characters:
Lyuba Raneysky
Yermolay Lopakhin
Peter Trofimov
Leonid Gayev
7. IN YOUR OWN WORDS…….….provide a brief synopsis:
The play is at heart a struggle of a family to try and save the estate that they live on from being purchased and destroyed. Lopakhin ends up buying the estate in the end and does in fact cut down all of the cherry trees in the orchard. The family is forced to leave their home and only Firs is left on stage near death.
8. Genre: Comedy - Drama - Musical - Children’s Theatre – Tragicomedy, or any combination of.
Tragicomedy. There are some elements of the play that are comedic but if you just look at the overall story of the play then it would be considered just a tragedy.
Plays & Playwrights Form
Winter 2014
Name: Nathan Whitfield
1. Title of the play: The Cherry Orchard
2. Author of the play: Chekov
3. Setting: Russia
4. Time: 1890’s
5. Theme: (NOT THE STORY LINE! – what is the play REALLY about?)
The theme of the play has been thought to be the struggle over memory. I would have to agree with this idea. Throughout the play you learn of painful memories that the characters have had and how they are desperately trying to forget them. However, some people don’t want to forget the past, they want to forget their present and future. For example, Ranevsky wants to do away with the hardships she has to face and go back to a time where she can be happy, even though she herself struggles with the memories of her son’s death. It is this struggle of wanting to remember and forget that is apparent throughout the play.
6. Main Characters:
Lyuba Raneysky
Yermolay Lopakhin
Peter Trofimov
Leonid Gayev
7. IN YOUR OWN WORDS…….….provide a brief synopsis:
The play is at heart a struggle of a family to try and save the estate that they live on from being purchased and destroyed. Lopakhin ends up buying the estate in the end and does in fact cut down all of the cherry trees in the orchard. The family is forced to leave their home and only Firs is left on stage near death.
8. Genre: Comedy - Drama - Musical - Children’s Theatre – Tragicomedy, or any combination of.
Tragicomedy. There are some elements of the play that are comedic but if you just look at the overall story of the play then it would be considered just a tragedy.