The Cherry Orchard - Donmar Warehouse 2024

His Streetcar was terrific, so I cannot wait for this. Love that it’s gonna be in the round.

£65 I would argue actually is fairly pricey... yes, it's not £££ like some shows in the West End but it's definitely more expensive than the Almeida or the Menier and only seats on the extreme sides seem to carry a lower price tag. I've stood once and it wasn't really for me. Top price only a few years ago was £40 and I do think the Donmar seems to have increased their prices considerably more compared to some of their peers, perhaps because its in such a prime location? I'm fortunately able to still spend £65 but I know a lot of people who can't so it's quite a delicate conversation trying to invite friends out sometimes...

Moreover however, anyone there tonight or during previews who can report back?

From my understanding, only a small percentage of their funding came from ACE - most came from sponsorships and donations, and the price increase came about before the cut. It was really after COVID when ticket prices seemed to have really increased. Of course I recognise it is a business but I don't think it's unreasonable to point out that the Donmar does charge more and I'm praising them for still selling without offers on TodayTix etc

Fwiw, I didn't book for at least 2 years because a production would always appear on papering sites. For at least one production tickets were distributed for free as a favour. That said, the Donmar seems to have retained a significant Old Guard from back in the day.

For a while, use of the droning, moveable ceiling was almost as ubiquitous as The Orange Tree's chaise lounge, though someone mercifully seemed to unplug it during Longhurst's reign.

Strictly it's not a business it's a charity so has a legal obligation to break even - but not to make a profit as would be the case for commercial West End venues. 

We were in the circle - but since it’s the sort of thing people may like to be warned about, there are some moments of sustained audience interaction involving the first row of the stalls. I didn’t care for the production at all, unfortunately.

I didn't much care for this adaption. As stated above, there is audience participation, which I found annoying. The Donmar is describing the seating configuration as being "in the round", but It's more like there happens to be two rows of seating on stage, which is normally the back wall of the set.

Well in a sense it *is* personal, you and I are not the audience they want.

Save yourself from this 3 hours of utter sh*te

Painful pretentious

And demonstrating at worst the director has if anything regressed in capability

At best he has one approach to everything

Possibly the most appalling acting in have seen in a Chekhov

And yes the lighting is harsh and awful

Like being in an interrogation suite for the evening

Sickening

Makes you wish for theatre closures again

I saw this tonight, and thought it was terrific!

Much better than the horror-focused "Cherry Orchard" at the Young Vic, and also more original and exciting than the last one the National did, in my opinion.

Yes, there is a danger of audience participation if you are front row of the stalls, and I was glad not to be sat there.

At tonight's preview, it ran from 7:35pm - 10:25pm, making for a running time of 2 hours 50 minutes, including an interval. It will undoubtedly get shorter.

Some spoilers follow. . .

For the first half, I was wondering what happened to Benedict Andrews, as it just seemed like a straightforward Brechtian thing, with the lights on, some audience participation, actors sitting among the audience, and an Anya Reiss type script update, using modern words like "f--kwit" and modern phrases like "See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya."

Where was the genius of his "Three Sisters," with all the stacked tables and chairs disappearing one by one from under the actors' feet, leaving them with less and less room to exist? Where was the spinning stage of "Streetcar," which created that sense of New York dynamism?

In fact, the isolation of the actors playing the scenes in the first half, surrounded by the other actors all watching them as audience members, made them feel lonely and artificial, struggling to create any sense of real human interaction. Except with the audience lol. Most audience members singled out were only referred to, rather than having to do anything, so not a real worry, but one bloke was dragged on stage, and was an amazing sport about it, though I hope he was consulted in advance about it.

In the second half, it became clear that the first half had only really been a warm-up, as by now, the atmosphere of the audience and actors, all being one and the same, had been established, accepted and internalised, and at this point, accompanied by onstage instruments and actor-musicians, a chaotic Chekhovian sense of real people living real lives just exploded into reality and the in-the-round staging meant we all felt part of it.

With most of the actors now flooding the stage at once, and all sorts of things happening simultaneously, the sense of the actors being under the microscope ended, replaced by a sense of all the diversity of behaviour and beliefs of humanity all happening at once, simply existing, which did absolute justice to Chekhov's conversational characters and class-related themes. The audience being a part of it also continued for some game front row stalls participants. . .



Anyway, I felt that after an average first half, we had an explosive and utterly gripping second half, simply wonderful in every way, dramatically, in characterisation, the authenticity of it, all only possible on account of the first half conditioning the audience to feel part of the show.

The entire acting ensemble were on fire, moulding life forces to be reckoned with: with Adeel Akhtar's self-made man, Lopakhin a perfect blend of wilful belligerence, street smarts and soulful compassion; June Watson's frail Firs furiously cursing the future into the wind while gleefully and lovingly fawning over the past; Nina Hoss's Ranevskaya so regal, dazed, confused and open-hearted; David Ganly's Boris so complacent yet frenzied about money; and I could go on as I loved the entire ensemble.

Overall, this was not the comedy that Chekhov supposedly wanted it to be, but nor was it the weighty drama Stanislavsky supposedly thought it should be. Benedict Arnold just winds up both audience and actors like a music box until all we feel is the reality and truth of Chekhov's whole world. 4 and a half stars from me.

This is the one Chekhov great play that I’ve not seen so very intrigued now. Thanks for the report Steve knowing you like it gives me some confidence at least. I’ve booked for stage side front row as I think it’s a bit of a treat to get to see the Donmar from a perspective you don’t normally have. Mainly booked for Daniel Monks as he’s been terrific in everything I’ve seen him in