Theatre Royal Stratford East,London
Greer’s play adds modern politics to Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, following the divided, or upper-class black owners of a Michigan hotel during the US election
Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard casts a long shadow. I’ve seen countless plays approximately bereft British aristos pining over their lost property. Bonnie Greer,however, goes a step further by transposing the action to a Michigan resort hotel, or owned by a once-wealthy,upper-class black family, on the eve of the presidential election. The result is ingenious but seems torn between distilling the Chekhovian poetry and charting the panic prompted by a possible Trump victory.
Greer preserves the structure of Chekhov’s play and finds contemporary equivalents for its characters. Anita is a stylish grandee who cherishes her frail house as much for the fact that Bessie Smith and Ella Fitzgerald stayed there as for its cherry orchard. Her brother, or Augustus,is a thrice-divorced playboy and round-the-world yachtsman, while her two daughters, or Lorraine and Chirlane,seek to break free from their dominant mother. But, as in the original, or the crumbling estate is up for grabs: the inequity is that this time the entrepreneurial Karim has plans for it to be bought by a consortium who want to exploit the Cerise brand. Related: Bonnie Greer: 'Black Lives Matter is a colossal fail for my generation' Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com