The Cherry Orchard at Dublin Theatre Festival
By arts andlit | Oct 21 2015
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Image credit Koen Broos taken from dublintheatrefestival.com[/caption]Aurora Andrus reviews tg STAN's production of The Cherry Orchard at The Dublin Theatre Festival earlier this month.Anton Chekhov’s play, The Cherry Orchard, was first performed one hundred and eleven years ago and has now made its way to the O’Reilly theatre for a modern and artistic adaptation of this century old piece. The small but talented cast were captivating on stage, especially Jolente De Keersmaeker and Stijn Vercruyssen, whose performances outshone the rest. While the acting was memorable, there was little to be desired. While their efforts of attempting to execute an alternative play did not go unnoticed, a lot of the production was distracting. Walking into the theatre the actors were all sitting on the stage, participating in small talk and saying hello to viewers as they walked to their seats. It came off slightly unprofessional and when they were ready to start, one actor yelled up the 'tech-desk' to ask if they were okay to being the performance. It is unclear if the intention was to be more ‘laid-back’ but it was a strange way of conducting a professional production.The small but talented cast were captivating on stage, especially Jolente De Keersmaeker and Stijn Vercruyssen, whose performances outshone the rest.
Unlike a ‘typical’ play in which characters go behind a curtain when they leave the stage, the actors in this production stood against the back wall of the stage but stayed visible to the audience. I found myself looking at the actors standing ‘off stage’ quite often. One actress stood in the back, arms crossed and a hip popped seemingly just watching the play for more than twenty minutes. This continued for the duration of the play and overall it proved to be an unnecessary distraction. The sets were pleasant and minimalistic but the set changes were loud and again distracting. The actors changed the sets themselves during the performance and, although the effort and coordination it must have taken them was admirable, it was uproarious and drove some to people watch while the five to ten minute set changes occurred.It added a modern aspect that was engaging and had us moving in our seats.
On a positive note, the actors were very funny and the audience laughed out loud on more than one occasion. Acknowledgement should be given to the quirky bits, like the choreographed dance number and inclusion of Asaf Avidan’s chart topper, “One Day/ Reckoning Song.” It added a modern aspect that was engaging and had us moving in our seats. The audience seemed to really enjoy the performance, ending it with a standing ovation so by no way was the play ‘bad’. Overall it had its pros and cons but the talent and elbow grease put into making this show should by no means be overlooked.