Garden Club 

In 1904, Chekhov’s final play, The Cherry Orchard, debuted at the Moscow Art Theater. While Chekhov was well-established by this point as a leading Realist playwright, the ultimate play of his career pushed past this narrative, creating a newer, more abstract atmosphere, while bringing forward the tensions of a Russia on the brink of revolution. 

 

“Anton Pavlovich’s Garden Club” is our attempt to re-radicalize this play. Using the backdrop of a podcast, we are exploring The Cherry Orchard act by act, bringing the specificity of Chekhov’s writing into the 21st century, complete with the anxieties and hopes of our day. Rather than holding up Chekhov’s work on an untouchable pedestal, we are treating it with irreverence, digging as deep into the play as possible, in order to rip it apart and put it back together again.