Groundswell Theatricals Presents Arlekin Players | (zero-G) Lab's Production Of THE ORCHARD in November

Arlekin Players has announced the Boston Premiere of The Orchard, featuring Jessica Hecht and Mikhail Baryshnikov, following rave reviews and sold out performances Off-Broadway in New York. Groundswell Theatricals, in association with Cherry Orchard Festival and ShowOne Productions, presents Arlekin Players | (zero-G) Lab's production of this piece, Golyak's new adaptation of The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov as translated by Carol Rocamora. The Orchard invites us into the strange, fragile and beautiful world of a family yearning for connection and struggling with the end of their world as they know it. Threatened with foreclosure and the loss of their beloved orchard, they face unstoppable, destructive forces that dismantle their lives like the breaking of a string.

Developed throughout the pandemic in Arlekin's Zero Gravity (zero-G) Virtual Theater Lab, this newest work is a hybrid piece of theater, including opportunities to experience the production two ways: The Orchard live and in-person, or The Orchard /an auction/, a virtual experience online.

The Orchard - Live & In-Person at the Emerson Paramount Center

The Orchard is a fully staged live performance of The Cherry Orchard as translated by Carol Rocamora and adapted by Golyak, including new material. The cast is helmed by Jessica Hecht (Friends,Breaking Bad, Fiddler on the Roof) as Lyubov Ranevskaya, and features Juliet Brett, Darya Denisova, Jeffrey Hayenga, Elise Kibler, Nael Nacer, and Gene Ravvin. Mikhail Baryshnikov plays Firs. To create the rich, immersive world of The Orchard, Golyak worked with an international team of collaborators from across the globe, spanning gaming, film, theater, robotics and emerging technologies, with Scenography by Anna Fedorova, Lighting by Yuki Nasake Link, Costumes by Oana Botez, Sound Design by Tei Blow, Projection Design by Alex Basco Koch, and Robotics by Tom Sepe of dotdotdash.io. In both the in-person and online versions, audiences enter the ephemeral, blue, lost world of the orchard which is inhabited by a giant, Kuka robot arm and layered with vivid live video elements, where they meet a fragile family trying to keep their lives from coming apart.

"It's a dream to be bringing The Orchard to Boston on the heels of our run in New York. And it's exquisite having Jessica and Misha leading our beautiful cast. This is a story about the delicate relationships at the center of a family facing the end of the world as they know it. We are living through an unimaginable time of change and upheaval with the war in the Ukraine and the pandemic. The loss of the cherry orchard is the loss of our world as we desperately try to stay connected and keep things from falling apart. Creating this in New York was an incredible launch for The Orchard, and it means so much to share it in our home city at this exact moment," says Golyak.

The Orchard /an auction/- An Online Virtual Experience

The Orchard /an auction/ is a unique online experience, available worldwide. Audiences from around the globe are invited to gather in real time for the auctioning of our cherry orchard, and to travel with the characters of the live performance of The Orchard at Emerson Paramount Center, taking an interactive journey with this family in crisis as they face the loss of their home, their land, and the world as they know it.The virtual experience was conceived by Golyak and is a new, updated iteration of a version shared in New York in May/June 2022, with a virtual set was designed by Anna Fedorova, direction of photography and video effects by Alan Mandelshtam, and interactivity narrative by Tom Abernathy.

The in-person and online versions will run live and simultaneously. Ten in-person performances will take place November 4 - 13, with virtual experiences available worldwide for six shows only, Wednesday November 9-Sunday November 13.

"The Orchard is fascinating because we keep iterating it. It has been a true labor of love and an adventure to produce, and it is evolving as we share more performances in person and online. I have honestly never been part of a team like this and it is thrilling to work with such incredible collaborators pushing the edges of theater, film, gaming, robotics, projections, narrative, video effects, and with such a stellar cast. It's visceral, and high tech... and human; I promise it is like nothing you have experienced before," says executive producer Sara Stackhouse.

The Orchard is produced by Groundswell Theatricals, Arlekin and its (zero-G) Lab, in association with The Cherry Orchard Festival Foundation, ShowOne Productions, and Jessica Sporn/Leah Michalos, with additional support from ArtsEmerson, Fooksman Family Foundation, Michalos Management, Russian Jewish Community Foundation, dotdotdash.io, Birddog, Dolby-Millicast, NetGear, Robin Hanley, Robert and Shari Thurer, Aximmetry, the official software provider for (zero-G), GRAISIN Robotics, Moonlight Motion Pictures, & Marteamo.

Tickets for both the in-person and live experience go on sale September 20 at noon at www.TheOrchardOffBroadway.com, or by calling the ArtsEmerson Box Office at 617-824-8400 (Tue-Sat from 12:00PM ET - 6:00PM ET).

To post a comment, you must register and login.