The Cherry Orchard

The Cherry Orchard was the last play written by Russian writer and playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first performed on January 17, 1904 at the Moscow Art Theater in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavsky. Chekhov characterized this piece as a comedy with some elements of farce; however Stanislavsky insisted on directing the play as a tragedy. Since this initial production directors had to deal with the dual nature of the piece.