Chekhov across time and space
Under Georgian director David Doiashvili, The Cherry Orchard becomes a nostalgic and ephemeral meditation on change, loss and human absurdity, Chen Nan reports.
Bringing Chekhov's complex characters to life for a Chinese audience posed a unique challenge, but Doiashvili's distinctive methods have guided the actors through this cultural translation.
Huang Wei, who portrays Ranevskaya, recalls how the director didn't begin by rehearsing the first scene but instead jumped straight to the third act.
"We saw the ending first, and then we understood how the characters arrived at that point," she says. The process was like decoding a mystery, where each rehearsal helped reveal the characters' deeper motivations."
The Beijing People's Art Theatre has a strong tradition of performing Chekhov's plays, including The Seagull and Uncle Vanya, according to the theater's president, veteran actor and director Feng Yuanzheng. This new production continues that legacy while bringing fresh perspectives and insights to the material. The theater's first president, Jiao Juyin, once called The Cherry Orchard Chekhov's "final lyrical poem", acknowledging its unique place in the canon of world drama.
