The Cherry Orchard

In pre-Revolution Russia, Madame Ranevskaya returns to her decaying estate after an exile in Paris. Ranevskaya's dissolute brother Gaev, her insecure adopted daughter Varya and dotty butler Feers are as ill-prepared for the grim financial realities that threaten their existence as Ranevskaya is. At stake are the estate and its beloved cherry orchard, the pride of the extended family of aristocrats and freed serfs. As spring gives way to summer and memory threatens reason, the family must either find their footing in a Russia turned upside down or flounder in a sea of longing and doubt. Acclaimed international director Michael Cacoyannis and a dream cast of British screen talent revive Anton Chekhov's masterpiece of imprisonment in wealth and regret. Working from his own translation, Cacoyannis expands and condenses The Cherry Orchard with a fidelity that preserves Chekhov's emotional extravagance and unblinking eye for human frailty.