Chekhov's last play opens

Anton Chekhov's last masterpiece, "The Cherry Orchard," which takes place on a Russian estate sustained by an unusually large cherry orchard, opens this weekend at IU's Ruth N. Halls Theatre.\nThe fate of the orchard is in question: The owner of the estate is in debt and intends to sell, but many characters have other ideas about what should happen to the orchard. As events unfold and characters return to the estate, old relationships renew and each player steadily becomes more complex -- sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, but always driven by an abundance of personality beneath the surface. \nThe Minimized plot places the play's thrust on the development of its characters, which lies juxtaposed with symbolism and themes of memory, illusion and transition. Characteristics like these have made "The Cherry Orchard" and the Chekhovian canon a mainstay with audiences, actors and academia.\n"The characters are more extreme (in 'The Cherry Orchard') than in his other plays," said Director Howard Jensen. "I knew the young actors would fall in love with the material. The rehearsal process has been wonderful."\nJensen's excitement for the production is echoed by other members of the Department of Theatre and Drama.\n"The plays are brilliantly written. They're wonderful character studies," said Ron Wainscott, professor of theater history, theory and literature. "So many of the concerns and worries of the characters seem to us to be middle-aged, but they are very real concerns that are still part of our lives. These characters have been through so much, the assumptions we make in our youth don't resonate easily with their experience. What Chekhov found was youth settling at the turn of the century, and that alarmed him."\nHe said this has been a problem with Chekhov for younger audiences -- how removed the circumstances of Chekhovian characters are from their own. But as senior education major Nicole Bruce, who plays Dunyasha, pointed out, underneath the surface circumstances lies experience that transcends age.\n"These types of characters are so real -- it makes you laugh, it makes you cry to think, 'Oh my God, people are really like this,'" she said. "You probably know more people like this than you know in plays by Mamet or Shepard. The circumstances are different, so you don't recognize it off the bat, but people act like this and react like this all the time."\nJensen agreed.\n"Young audiences need to be introduced to this," Jensen said. \nWainscott said he hoped a younger audience would attend the play.\n"I hope they can get engaged and appreciate the marvelous character developments. It has tremendous power to move the audience," Wainscott said.\nJensen said he has complete trust in his actors and designers to do just that.\n"As an ensemble, we're giving, without exception, wonderful performances. Since this is my last production, I'm really happy to be doing it," Jensen said. \nIt is fitting that this play be Jensen's last, for "The Cherry Orchard" was also Chekhov's last play. It is appropriate that a play about the end of an era, marks the end of Jensen's 32-year career at IU. Jensen is retiring this year.\nJensen said the parallels between his retirement and the play have nothing to do with his directing it. Jensen is directing his favorite Chekhov play because of his excitement over it rather than its symbolic value.\n"I thought we had the actors to do it," he said, commenting on the strength of performance his students have given Chekhov year after year in the classroom.\nJensen, who plans to continue directing at other venues after his retirement, said the play isn't just about the end.\n"It's about endings, but it's also about new beginnings," he said.\n-- Contact staff writer Patrick Doolin at pdoolin@indiana.edu.