Created by Igor Golyak, The Orchard is an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, translated by Carol Rocamora with additional material by Golyak. The work is available for in-person audiences and virtual theatregoers.
Audiences in the theatre enter an immersive environment where perceptions, illusions, and reality collide as a family in crisis tries to process their future. The virtual experience invites audiences on a journey through a three-dimensional property that has been abandoned and is in foreclosure. Audiences can explore magical rooms where they uncover echoes of a past life, including Chekhov's letters, memories, and, ultimately, the play, live, in progress at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.
The in-person and online versions run concurrently for each performance. Partway through the performances, the two versions intersect and the worlds come together.
Read the reviews here.
Cititour NY (Brian Scott Lipton)
NY Stage Review (David Finkle)
New York Theater (Jonathan Mandell)
The New York Sun (Elysa Gardner)
The New York Times (Laura Collins-Hughes)
Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
The cast is led by Jessica Hecht (Fiddler on the Roof, Breaking Bad) as Ranevskaya with Juliet Brett (Fosse/Verdon), Darya Denisova (State vs. Natasha Banina), Elise Kibler (The Heidi Chronicles), John McGinty (Children of a Lesser God), Nael Nacer (chekhovOS), Mark Nelson (Angels in America), and Ilia Volok (Mission Impossible, Indiana Jones). Mikhail Baryshnikov plays both Anton Chekhov and Firs.
The production has scenic design by Anna Fedorova, costume design by Oana Botez, lighting design by Yuki Nakase Link, projection design by Alex Basco Koch, sound design by Tei Blow, music composition by Jakov Jakoulov, emerging technologies design by Adam Paikowsky, robotics design by Tom Sepe, and hair and makeup design by Anna Hrustaleva. Seth Gore is the director of American Sign Language.
See Inside the Production Below: