Town Hall Theatre Presents Chekhov's THE CHERRY ORCHARD

Town Hall Theatre is excited to announce the next show in its 75th "TRANSFORMATIONS" Season, Anton Chekhov's final elegiac comedy masterpiece, THE CHERRY ORCHARD, in a new translation by Richard Nelson, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky.

THT will host three Special Events for THE CHERRY ORCHARD: an Opening Night gala on Saturday, February 29, 2020; LIT UP at Town Hall, a literary salon on the theme "Regeneration" on Wednesday, March 11, 2020; and Theatre Club, our post-show talk-backs with complimentary wine, on Friday, March 6, 2020, and Friday, March 20, 2020. We welcome audiences to enjoy THT's full bar and entertainment in our lobby one hour before performances. Town Hall is thrilled to welcome the Center for Elders' Independence as a new community partner with this production. CEI helps at-risk seniors live at home, instead of in nursing homes, and works to improve the total environment of older adults in the East Bay.

THE CHERRY ORCHARD, Anton Chekhov's final masterwork, arrives at Town Hall in February/March 2020, in a new translation by Richard Nelson, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky of Chekhov's original 1903 pre-rehearsal script. At once timeless and prescient, THE CHERRY ORCHARD channels the "human comedy", with all its loves, losses and privileges past, and the inescapable future. The story is simple: on a chilly morning in May in the Russian provinces, around the turn of the last century, landowner Lyubóv Andréevna returns after a five year absence to her family's estate to find the cherry orchard in bloom. But all is soon to change, as debts must be paid.

At the time Chekhov was writing, 19th century stages were characterized by highly melodramatic plays and a histrionic acting style. One of the reasons his plays were so revolutionary then, and will continue to endure, was his desire for theatre to be "just as complex and also just as simple as in life. People eat their dinner, just eat their dinner, yet at the same time their happiness is taking shape and their lives are being smashed."[Chekhov's spoken words from 1889.] THE CHERRY ORCHARD is such a play, where nothing seems to happen, as everything happens.

Or as the playwright put it, another way: "In real life people do not spend every minute shooting each other, hanging themselves, or making declarations of love." - "They eat, drink, flirt, talk nonsense." [Reminiscences of AP Chekhov - Gorodetski]

THT's production of THE CHERRY ORCHARD is directed by Susan E. Evans, Town Hall's Artistic Director, and features an impressive team of Bay Area performers: Sarah Ruby (as Lyubóv Ranévskaya), Ted V. Bigornia (Lopákhin), Tim Holt Jones (Gáev), Heather Kellogg Baumann (Várya), April Deutschle (Ánya), Jake Gleason (Trofímov), Tom Reilly (Firs), Alicia Piemme Nelson (Dunyásha), Emily Keyshian (Charlótta), Ben Chau-Chiu (Epikhódov), Mick Renner (Simeónov-Píshchik), Domonic Tracy (Yásha), and Samuel Tomfohr (Stationmaster, Passerby, Servant).

The creative team for THE CHERRY ORCHARD is comprised of designers with credits from numerous Bay Area theatres and beyond, including Liliana Duque Piñeiro (scenic design); Delayne Medoff (lighting design); Michael Kelly (sound design); Maggie Whitaker (costume design); and Debbie Shelley (properties design).

THE CHERRY ORCHARD will have 12 performances, including two previews, February 27 through March 21, 2020, at Town Hall Theatre Company, 3535 School Street, in Lafayette, CA. Tickets are $18 - $30, and are available through the Box Office at (925) 283-1557 or online at www.TownHallTheatre.com.

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