National Theatre Live: The Cherry Orchard

On 30 June 2011 National Theatre Live will broadcast The Cherry Orchard live to cinemas around the world.

Ranyevskaya returns more or less bankrupt after ten years abroad. Luxuriating in her fading moneyed world and regardless of the increasingly hostile forces outside, she and her brother snub the lucrative scheme of Lopakhin, a peasant turned entrepreneur, to save the family estate. In so doing, they put up their lives to auction and seal the fate of the beloved orchard.

Set at the very start of the twentieth century, The Cherry Orchard captures a poignant moment in Russia’s history as the country rolls inexorably towards 1917. This spirited new version of Chekhov’s last play follows Andrew Upton’s acclaimed adaptations of Philistines and The White Guard.

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(Black & white copies of this document will be given to those attending on the night)

"Wonderfully fresh, funny and deeply felt. One of the finest ensembles I have ever seen at the National." Daily Telegraph

"A funny and affecting production with an excellent cast, who capture the wild exuberance and piercing melancholy of Chekhov’s play." Metro

"Zoë Wanamaker is superb." The Times