Photo Source: Randyll Wendl
Don't fault Carol Rocamora's translation for the production's flaws. She effortlessly balances the conflicting demands of eliminating creaky language and not tricking up dialogue with jarring contemporary idioms. As a result, this 106-year-old masterpiece about a woman's desperate attempt to keep her family's estate vibrates with contemporary energy.
It's uneven acting that bedevils the production. Director Terry Schreiber gracefully keeps his enormous cast from overwhelming the intimate Gloria Maddox Theater, no small achievement, but he is unable to wring consistent performances from them. Jamie Kirmser brings an attractive virility to the role of Lopakhin, the peasant's son who buys the estate and chops down its beautiful cherry orchard to make way for summer homes. But he seems awkward in the scene where he attempts to propose to Varya, the adopted daughter of Ranevskaya, the owner of the estate. Both he and Aleksandra Stattin, who plays Varya, are undercut by clumsy comic staging that robs the scene of its inherent power. Rick Forstmann acquits himself well as Ranevskaya's brother Gaev, but he chokes on Gaev's signature lines—"Yellow ball into the middle pocket"—opting to scramble past them as quickly as possible.
Even Julie Garfield, a fine actor who has excelled in other productions of Chekhov's plays, can manage only bursts of brilliance as Ranevskaya. Those bursts are worth waiting for, however. In her scene in Act 3 with the student Trofimov, she blazes through a medley of emotional states with the assurance and passion of a Pablo Casals or Eric Clapton.
A few members of the cast rise above the general patchiness. Marcus Lorenzo sustains a passionate depiction of Trofimov. Laine Bonstein keeps Anya, Ranevskaya's other daughter, on a constant sizzle. Peter Judd brings dignity and gravity to the foolishly wise servant Firs.
Hal Tiné's set design economically alters location with a few shifts of furniture and a slight realignment of walls and windows. Chris Rummel's sound design adds pitch-perfect emotional underscoring, especially during the scene change between the third and fourth acts.
With the collapse of our own real-estate market and the mounting number of home foreclosures, "The Cherry Orchard" has become timely. It's regrettable that T. Schreiber Studio hasn't been able to take advantage of this historical moment and render a once-in-a-lifetime production that speaks to us in a way no other "Cherry Orchard" has had the opportunity to do.
Presented by and at T. Schreiber Studio,151 W. 26th St., NYC. March 5–April 4. Thu.–Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. (212) 352-3101, (866) 811-4111, www.theatermania.com, or www.tschreiber.org.