The Orchard, a world-premiere adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard by Sean B. Leo, is performed in repertory with Kelli Lynn Burton’s new play Angel Food Cake beginning October 20.
Strange Sun Theater, under the direction of artistic director Jessica Bashline, concludes its fourth season with productions of the two works in The Flamboyan Theater at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center in Manhattan.
In The Orchard, according to Strange Sun, “a mother returns home as the family estate is to be sold. At the brink of uncertainty the family revisits the past while hoping for a future. This new adaptation is a contemporary take on Chekhov’s classic play about family and the changes they must endure.”
Directed by Leo, the cast of The Orchard features Hadley Boyd, Paul Albe, Michael Donaldson, Cesar J. Rosado, Jade' Davis, Varvara Ilchenko, and Alec Silberblatt.
An adaptation of The Cherry Orchard by Tony Award winner Stephen Karam is currently playing Broadway’s American Airlines Theatre starring Diane Lane. Read DIANE LANE REFLECTS ON HER FULL-CIRCLE STROLL THROUGH THE CHERRY ORCHARD
Here’s how Angel Food Cake is billed: “After Nashville crushes her country music dreams, Jean returns home to win back the man she left behind. When she discovers he's engaged, she nearly suffers a breakdown that her family can't repair. Set in a trailer on the lot of a drive-in theater, one family wrestles with faith, doubt, obsession, and the lies they'd rather live.” The piece spent 18 months in development as part of the Strange Sun Theater Greenhouse Project.
Directed by Erin Gorski, the cast includes Lisa Kitchens, Geraldine Leer, Barbra Wengerd, Brandon Burton, and Dillon Heape.
Both works explore families in denial and on the brink. They speak to each other across 100 years—from Russia to the American South. The creative team for the productions includes Jonathan Cottle (scenic design), Michelle Tobias (lighting design), Marissa Shadburn (assistant director, The Orchard), and Kat Gavornik (production stage manager).
The Flamboyan Theater at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center is located at 107 Suffolk Street. Performances run through October 29. For more information and tickets for both plays, visit StrangeSunTheater.com.
(Updated October 20, 2016)
