Exchange Theatre's The Cherry Orchard

[Keith Dahlgren]

I'm unabashedly an Exchange Theatre fan, because Vince Brady, the artistic director, seems to want to produce what Intiman used to be known for producing back in the mists of the seventies and early eighties:  classic and solid European plays.  You know, the stuff you studied and possibly performed in college, and seldom gets done anymore because it's old, stuffy, and not cutting edge (Uncle! Vanya! The! Musical! coming soon!).  Intiman still does big-budget versions of same, maybe once a season.  But Exchange keeps it up.  The three shows this season were all written in the first twenty years of the last century (disclaimer: I directed one of them.)  These are the plays that form the base to 20th century Theatre.  And Exchange does a solid production every time.

Exchange's current production of The Cherry Orchard runs through July 10 and you ought to check it out. The individual performances by Doug Moening, Kevin Brady, Heather Hawkins...oh, okay, just about the whole cast, is worth the trip. Stewart Hawk, the director, has assembled a good, solid group of locals (locals...hmmm...inset your own snide snipe at Three Sisters here)  who bring that wonderful sense of Russian class vs class, wear-your-emotions-like-a-corsage, oddball comedy that has gone into the lexicon as Chekovian into a simple story with a simple predictable ending that still kept me interested and focussed.  Michael Frayn's well-written translation was a great help, although in deference to the previous comments about the Craig Lucas adaptation of Three Sisters, there were no 'fuck's.  And yes, it's a comedy in that strange Russian sense of the word.  These are funny people, both funny-funny and funny-strange.

And yes, it's at the Bathhouse, that no-nonsense block of brick that has no backstage, poor side sightlines, a 12 foot ceiling, and looks like it's about to fall on your head any minute.  So, no flash, no big chandeliers, no huge see-through gazebos, no helicopters, and during the scene changes, actors move furniture.  Heavens! But Craig Wollam and Seattle Scenic Studios always managed to do wonders with little budget, and accomplished the same here. It was simple, and left the show to be about the characters. (disclaimer:  I recently joined the SSS board.)

This is more of a fan letter than a review, because I think that this is a little theatre that deserves more attention.  Go see it yourself.

[Colleen Jones]

Thanks for the plug in more than one ways!!!

[Steve Manning]

Here, here! Well said old bean! I am also a fan of Mr. Brady and SSS. You have shamed me off the couch and off to the Bathouse! (Theater, that is)

[Keith Dahlgren]

Thanks, Steve.  It will be worth your time, I think.

I'd love to see more reviews and opinions about shows besides the steady Mr. Boling and the witty and verbose Mr. Comte.  I can't write well, I'll admit it, but I love to see discussion.

I suspect there isn't a lot of reviewing going on because folks don't want to say things they might regret.

[Tom Ansart]

This is not meant to be a review of the play, but seeing it, I finally realize why it's a comedy.  If anyone cared about losing the orchard or the estate it be a tragedy.  If anyone thought they could really do anything about it, it would be a modern drama.  But it's inevitable that the trees will fall, and nobody really cares.  Now that's funny!

[Keith Dahlgren]

Interesting point, Tom.  I think our modern sensibilities indicate that a 'comedy' is something you laugh at. As opposed to something where the protagonists survive, which is probably closer to the original meaning.

Did anyone see Misha's odd little essay on Chekov in today's (Wed 7/6) Times?  It was certainly not a review of The Cherry Orchard...it was more like a college paper.

[Maria Glanz]

I liked Misha's essay, actually. Plus it's really good to see some ink in one of our 2 daily papers devoted to any sort of essay about theatre. It's not a review, not a preview, not an interview with some famous person, not a list of "this season's hot new plays, etc etc" - it's just a little essay about a playwright most of us fall in love with at some point in our work. Not to mention a playwright most non-theatre folk (and Seattle Times readers, perhaps) know little about.

I liked it. My 2 cents.