The Cherry Orchard was Anton Chekov's final play. The Russian realist playwright intended the play as a comedy but its first production (1904) was directed by Constantin Stanislavski as a tragedy. The Sinodun Players' version, directed by Erica Harley does a great job at providing satire as we follow the demise of an aristocratic family.

The play centres around a wealthy Russian woman, Liubov Andreevna Ranevskaya (played by Gloria Wright) and her adopted and birthed daughters, their uncle, and the many servants that wait on them. Having just returned from Paris, Ranevskaya literally throws money around; money she can ill afford to lose. Ranevskaya's beautiful estate and cherry orchard are days away from being auctioned to pay the mortgage but she and her family carry on in denial about their impending loss, expressing nostalgia for the past. Despite receiving financial advice and options that would enable them to retain and profit from the property, the family are unwilling to change their aristocratic ways and adapt to the social upheavals signalling the final stages of Tsarist Russia.

The set was simple but effective. Five giant Toblerone type boxes designed with each edge of the triangular prism portrayed different rooms and grounds of the estate, rotating as the story unfolds.

Serfdom has been abolished and these former serfs form the new bourgeoisie. The relationships between the old aristocracy, the new capitalists, and the old servants interlock in humorous and unexpected ways. Amy Atkinson plays a housemaid called Dunyasha who highlights the fun, possibilities, and risks in these new emerging social relations.

In Harley's version of the play, Ranevskaya is portrayed as a victim of a drunk husband and thieving lover, while also a survivor of trauma after having lost her son. However, traditional readings of the play depict Ranevskaya's surviving daughters as suffering from maternal neglect and Ranevskaya herself as decadent and irresponsible in the face of impending hardship. She is not supposed to be as likeable as conveyed in this version of Chekov's great play. In fact, I found that throughout the play there was an obvious empathy toward the aristocracy which concealed many of their flawed attempts at holding on to prejudiced ways in a changing world. This was unfortunate as the play was otherwise well performed.