La Cerisaie ・ Comédie-Française

“Everything must change so that nothing changes” comments Tancredi in Tomasi di Lampedusa’s “Leopard”, adapted by Visconti for the cinema. For Clément Hervieu-Léger, this sentence conveys the sensitivity of Chekhov’s characters.

Forced to auction off the family estate, Lyubov – who just came home from Paris – and her clan do not comprehend the urgency of the situation. Their habits and childhood memories of the untouchable aristocracy they’re products of have rendered them incapable of seeing things straight, despite the warnings of Lopakhin, the merchant and son of a former muzhik who ends up buying the estate.
After working on Molière and Goldoni, Frank Wedekind and Jean-Luc Lagarce, Clément Hervieu-Léger selected a play which echoes our society and holds a mirror to the complexity of life. “I love plays which are made up of memories, whether the author’s or our own. I like plays that act as testaments, not in that they must be interpreted in a somewhat biographical way, but because they force us to throw ourselves into the work”, said the director. The play, which magnifies human nature and sensitivity, has been very close to his heart for a long time; he resolved to tackle it with a company spirit. Whether through Lopakhin’s love for the cherry orchard and its owner, the political ideals of eternal student Trofimov, young Varya’s minute tediousness or the loyalty of old servant Firs, all the characters embody both nostalgia and the future, or the act of leaving and starting over.
As the feudal empire is drawing its last breaths in the early 20th century, the cherry orchard is a haven of beauty where Chekhov outlines the struggles accompanying the end of an era.

This show premiered on November 13, 2021 at the Salle Richelieu

Creative team

Directed by: Clément Hervieu-Léger
Translation: André Markowicz and Françoise Morvan
Scenography: Aurélie Maestre
Costumes: Caroline de Vivaise
Lighting: Bertrand Couderc
Original music: Pascal Sangla
Sound: Jean-Luc Ristord
Choreographic work: Bruno Bouché
Artistic collaboration: Aurélien Hamard-Padis
Costume assistant: Claire Fayel

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