The Cherry Orchard is the last of Chekhov’s four major plays. Written at a time of social change and upheaval, a few decades after the emancipation of the serfs and before the Bolshevik Revolution, the play concerns the fate of a family estate that contains a noted cherry orchard. Madame Lyubov Andreievna Ranevskaya is an aristocratic landowner who returns to her estate in the provinces after having fled to Paris in despair after the drowning of her son. A proud woman with a genuine love of her home, she lacks the financial acumen or practicality necessary to keep the estate from being sold at auction to retire family debts.  Of course, the estate is sold to a prosperous merchant who is the son of a former serf. Chekhov thought of the play as a comedy and found farcical humor in the futility of the gentry to adapt and of the bourgeoisie to find meaning in its material improvements. Stanislavski, who produced its premier in 1904, thought of it as a tragedy. Directors have wrestled with this duality ever since. The play was an immediate success and was presented immediately throughout Russia and other countries. It is considered a classic of 20^th century theatre and has been translated into many languages and produced around the world.  It has been a challenging vehicle for actors and directors to tackle and an important influence on playwrights such as George Bernard Shaw, Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller, and David Mamet, to name a few.

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