Dramaturgical Production Book 212/TCO

Anton Chekhov; Translated by Marina Brodskaya Director: Kelly Galvin Dramaturgy Team: Jack Lavey (314-616-7131; [email protected]) ​ ​ Grace Ralbovsky (347-452-0143; [email protected])

1 Table of Contents

Glossary

Production History

Sociocultural Information

Nomenclature

History of Studio 210

Groundplan

Selected Documents

Program Notes

2 Glossary

Page Term Explanation

226 muzhik A peasant; serf; carries negative connotation IPA: mʊˈʐɨk

227 kvass A fermented drink, similar to ale, low in alcohol and made from rye bread

227 abbé French word for abbot; the lower-ranking Catholic clergymen of France

227 Mentone A popular destination on the French-Italian for sufferers of tuberculosis. The town was popular with English and Russian aristocrats who built many of the luxurious hotels, villas, and palaces which still grace Menton today.

229 ruble Currency of Imperial Russia. 1 = $10.62 in 1900. ​ $10.62 in 1900 = $216.63 in 2016

232 billiards Russian billiards: http://www.gamesda.com/russian-pool-rules.html ​ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_pyramid Primary Differences to Western Pool -Table is larger, as are the balls, and thus the whole game is larger. -The pockets are narrower, which makes it harder to get the ball in the pocket. Reference in TCO: -Cut Shot (very difficult): https://goo.gl/images/HycUvV ​ -Bank Shot (less complicated): https://goo.gl/images/Bha79w ​ 232 boor An ill-mannered, unrefined person and is often pronounced with a diphthong, so it sounds almost like it is a two syllable word, but not quite. (buɚ) ​ ​ 234 crocodile Dishes containing crocodile were in vogue in Paris due to their unnecessary extravagance and expensiveness.

238 “Nothing A colloquialism meaning "definitely not". Usage of this predating doing.” 1904 are in Dickens and Twain.

241 Reed pipe An instrument, similar to a pennywhistle or a recorder, used by shepherds to soothe their sheep. A shepherd with his pipe was a common pastoral image.

3 241 salto mortale Italian for “jump of death”, i.e. a full flip in the air IPA: saltoʊ mortɔleI ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 242 Guitar vs. Before the 1917 Revolution, guitar was a traditionally bourgeois Mandolin instrument in Russia, a frequent entertainment for the rich, landowning class. Unlike the Western, Spanish-influenced guitar, Russia guitars had seven strings, not six, and were played with the fingers rather than a pick. After the Revolution, the government pushed for large, orchestral music representative of the People, virtually eliminating this type of guitar’s bourgeois tradition. On the other hand, the mandolin was favored by Socialist leaders as it represented the pastoral, folk traditions of Russia’s former serf class.

243 Buckle Henry Thomas Buckle, an English historian who wrote History of ​ Civilization in England, completed in 1857, an extensive and ​ comprehensive history of the country. Sometimes called the “Father of Scientific History”.

244 The 19th century writers and philosophers who praised artifice over the Decadents naïve view of nature, in opposition to Romanticism.

245 croiser French word for cross; a billiard term for a crossing shot

246 Jewish http://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/the-most-musical-nation-jew orchestra s-and-culture-in-the-late-russian-empire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Russia#Russia n_EmpireJewish music in the Russian Empire was not just the ​ Ashkenazic, klezmer style music we so often think of due to media like Fiddler on the Roof. In fact, musicianship was one of the few ​ ​ crafts that gave Russian Jews a respectable and steady source of income. It is important to note as well that this period in Russia is marked heavily by pogroms, mass murders, committed by Tsarist forces across Ukraine and the steppe.

247 promissory A legal document binding a party to pay back a certain sum of money note by a certain time.

248 monkeyshines Mischievous behavior; ‘monkey business’ “без затей” literally meaning austere, or without hardship

249 Asiatic Refers to so-called “barbarians” of the northern Asian region such as barbarism the Mongols. It was widely believed at this time in Russia that those of the former serf class were descended from Asiatic barbarians, and thus deserved to be in a place of virtual slavery.

250 samovar A large, ornate metal container used to heat water for tea and coffee

4 common in Eastern European countries.

“Samovar humming/singing”: These devices made strange noises when they were heating up, as their hollow form created an acoustic chamber. Russian folklore tells of samovars having souls because of this ‘singing’.

251 Volga The largest river in Europe, and the national river of Russia, much like the Mississippi is to America.

251 kopeck Currency of Imperial Russia equal to 1/100th of a ruble. 0.01 = $0.11 in 1900 = $2.24 in 2016 IPA: koʊpək ​ 252 Labor Russian word for "work/labor" carries many connotations including action, effect, force, influence, toiling, and struggle.

253 “Promenade à French: Promenade as a pair! ​ une paire!”

253 “Grand-rond, French: In a big circle, get ready! ​ balancez!”

253 “Les cavaliers French: Gentlemen, on your knees and thank your ladies! ​ à genoux et remerciez vos dames!”

253 swallowtail A jacket with two tails hanging to the knees resembling a swallow’s tail.

254 Caligula A Roman emperor who promised to make his favorite horse a consul of the Senate.

254 lezginka A pairs dance from the Caucasus with music in 6/8 at a fast pace. ​ 255 “Guter German: Good man, but bad musician. ​ Mensch, aber schlechter Musikant.” ​ 255 “Eins, zwei, German: One, two, three! drei!” ​ 256 Yaroslavl Yaroslavl is the oldest of all the towns along the Volga (the main river in Russia). It became a major industrial town because of Peter the Great. In 1860 Yaroslavl gained the capacity to send and receive

5 telegraphs, in 1870 the railroad began running, and in 1873 a municipal waterway was established. It was a city with a population around 93,000 at the time of The Cherry Orchard, and continued to have an incredibly strong infrastructure until WW1 and the 1917 revolution.

259 The Sinner Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy, a relative of famed Leo Tolstoy, Woman wrote this poem in 1857. Also known as The Magdalen, it is a ​ ​ “moralistic story about the sinning Mary Magdalen who changes her wicked ways.” (Brodskaya) The Other approaches her . He places his saddened gaze. And for the first time, evil became a horror to her. In this gaze, full of goodness, she reads His condemnation during her days of debauchery And His pardon and mercy. She falls down in tears with her face in the ground Before the holiness of Christ.

259 Sealing wax A perpetually tacky wax used to seal letters before envelopes had adhesive built in. Made of colored rosin, which is derived from tree sap.

263 Crimean Crimea is a small peninsula of land along the Black Sea which was herring annexed by the Russian Empire in 1783. From 1853-56, Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire, and Russia disputed ownership of the land, escalating into the Crimean War. IPA: kraImiə ​ ​ ​ 266 Kharkov The second largest city after Kiev in Ukraine; a major source of trade and industry in the Russian Empire.

268 “Vif la French: Vive la France! (with a Russian accent) Frantz!”

270 white clay A fine white mineral known in Russia as kaolin used to make ​ ​ cosmetics, toothpaste, fine china, and as a diffuser on the inside of light bulbs.

272 Yashnevo There are several potential locations to which Lopakhin could be referring at this point. One is a tiny farm town about 500 km north of Moscow, called Yashnevo. Another is an administrative district of Moscow itself called Yasnevo whose huge wooded areas gave a perfect hidden locale for the KGB headquarters before the fall of the USSR, and now for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. Yet another is a town in the oblast of Yaroslavl called Yasnevo.

273 Trinity Also known as Pentecost Sunday, this is a Christian holiday in early

6 Sunday June celebrating the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the disciples of Jesus Christ. In the Eastern Orthodoxy, the holiday is celebrated by decorating one’s house and clothes in flowers and attending church/family gatherings. It is one of the most important holidays of the year.

7 Selected Production History

● Original Production: The play opened on 17 January 1904, the playwright's birthday, at ​ the Moscow Art Theatre under the direction of the actor-director Konstantin Stanislavski. ​ ​ ​ ​ During rehearsals, the structure of Act Two was re-written. Famously contrary to Chekhov's wishes, Stanislavski's version was, by and large, a tragedy. Chekhov disliked the Stanislavski production intensely, concluding that Stanislavski had "ruined" his play. In one of many letters on the subject, Chekhov would complain, "Anya, I fear, should not have any sort of tearful tone... Not once does my Anya cry, nowhere do I speak of a tearful tone, in the second act there are tears in their eyes, but the tone is happy, lively. Why did you speak in your telegram about so many tears in my play? Where are they? ... Often you will find the words "through tears," but I am describing only the expression on their faces, not tears. And in the second act there is no graveyard." It was a resounding ​ theatrical success and the play was almost immediately presented in many of the important provincial cities. This success was not confined only to Russia, as the play was soon seen abroad with great acclaim as well. Shortly after the play's debut, Chekhov departed for Germany due to his worsening health, and by July 1904 he was dead. ● With the advent of film, the play was quickly made into several film versions starring such famous actors as Helen Hayes, Dame Judi Dench, Annette Benning, and many others. ● 1977 Tony-winning Lincoln Center production starring a young Meryl Streep as Dunyasha. ● 2004 Steppenwolf Theatre Company production. ● 2007 Huntington Theatre Company production. ● 2011 Royal National Theatre revival. ● 2016 Roundabout Theatre Company production currently playing on Broadway, albeit to terrible reviews.

8 Sociocultural Information

● Illegitimacy (Varya): Essay by Olga E. Glagoleva. The illegitimate of the ​ ​ Russian nobility in law and practice, 1700-1860 ○ http://www.academia.edu/12589069/Olga_E._Glagoleva._The_illegitimate_childr en_of_the_Russian_nobility_in_law_and_practice_1700-1860 ● Literacy of Servants (Dunyasha): From Russian and West European Women, 1860-1939 ​ ​ by Marcelline J. Hutton

● Railroads: The first steam locomotive was invented and built in 1830 in Russia. The first ​ Railway line was between St. Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo in 1837 (it didn't really have a function, it was more a novelty, "toy" railway). The first major line was built between 1842-1851 and connected Moscow to St. Petersburg. The first railroads in the Caucuses were built in 1865, and the railways in the Caucuses were connected to the rest of the major Russian railways in 1900. 2 ● Estates: Palatial structures overseeing plots of land as large as 50km .​ As a reference, 50 ​ ​ km is the same distance as from the 808 Gallery to Worcester, MA. ● Patchouli: During this time, Patchouli was an annual crop in Russia, and several major French perfume companies either moved to Russia as their headquarters or used Russian Patchouli plants in their fragrances. Patchouli when worn lightly was regarded as a smell associated with class and aristocracy. When it was worn in too high a quantity, it meant that the wearer was either trying too hard to seem aristocratic, or was an old, out of touch biddie.

9 ● Coffee: Coffee was a relatively new part of the culture in Russia. It was much much more common to drink tea, which had just recently become incredibly cheap because of the railroads. Coffee was heavily taxed in both France and Russia, making it very expensive. When coffee arrived in France, it wasn't just a beverage, it was an aspect of salon/"coffee house" culture (the great minds of the enlightenment would sip coffee and discuss their ideals). Coffee did not arrive in Russia until Peter the Great, when it was a drink embraced by the aristocracy. Drinking it would be both a symbol of Ranyevskaya's connection to France and her self-destruction devotion to opulence. ● Telegrams: telegrams would've come in envelopes with their address on the outside. ● Trofimov, Ranevskaya: A popular Russian superstition is that if you see someone you know and they don't immediately recognize you, then you will be rich ● Pischik: In Act 4, when you say "a young man on was telling me that some great philosopher advices them to jump off the roof" (p.270), you are probably referencing Camus/Camus' essay, The Myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus is a character in Greek mythology ​ ​ who was cursed by the Gods to roll a boulder up a hill every day, only to have it roll back down every evening. Man must also push his proverbial boulder up a hill every morning, which is absurd, so we should all just kill ourselves. He concludes with "one must imagine Sisyphus happy". This is the absurdity of the human condition. This essay was widely popular in Europe and Russia at the time, and inspired lots of suicides. ● The number 22's Biblical symbolism: The number 22 is double 11, and eleven symbolizes chaos and disorder, so 22 is concentrated, extreme disorder and disorganization. ● Owls: Owls do not symbolize wisdom in Russian culture, they symbolize blindness and absent mindedness, and often carry deathly omens as well. Russian hunters would carry owl claws so in case they were killed, their souls would fly up to heaven. ● Heron: Herons were symbols for new beginnings and change. A heron cause mean a baby, or just something unexpected to happen in your home/to your family, which may or may not cause an uproar in the status quo (not necessarily a bad thing). If you see a heron near your home, this is considered lucky. ● Magic in Russian Culture (Charlotta): Romance was connected with magic and sorcery even until the 18th century when it became a prevalent literary theme. Neighbors suspected magic to be the cause of people so passionate they lost their senses. Christianity supported marriage and child-bearing, but it did not support the pursuit of pleasures of the flesh. This ban did not stop people from employing the Devil to get their share of pleasure. For men the usual aim was sex, but for women it could have been to get married, exact revenge, or regain a husband’s affection. ● “Samovar humming/singing”: These devices made strange noises when they were heating up, as their hollow form created an acoustic chamber. Russian folklore tells of samovars having souls because of this ‘singing’.

10 ● After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the aristocracy was considered under Bolshevik law to be “former people”. They were put on starvation rations, forced to do hard labor in the streets, sent to the gulag, shot, tortured, arrested en masse, etc. Many went into exile, emigrating to China or America. ● Hand kissing was considered a chivalrous gesture for a gentleman to do when introducing himself to a lady. ● Cherry blossoms native to Russia are white, not pink. The pink ones are from Japan. ● Information on the cultivation of cherries in Russia during the late 1800’s ○ https://books.google.com/books?id=o_4mAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22& dq=russian+cherries&source=bl&ots=l2Ch6nuCJz&sig=jUeZwK0YGPEiQjpCTb vu4jABKsY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjIy7eGstTQAhVh3IMKHbFIAbM4 ChDoAQg3MAQ#v=onepage&q=russian%20cherries&f=false

11 Nomenclature

As spoken by a real Russian person: http://dialectsarchive.com/the-cherry-orchard ​ Characters Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreyevna (Lyuba short/familiar) (ranjɛvskaIə liubɔv andreIɛvnə) ​ Anya (Anechka endearing) (anjʌ) ​ Varya (Varvara Mikhaylovna full first and patronymic) (varjʌ; varvarʌ mIkaIloʊvnə) ​ ​ ​ -Varya: "Mikhailovna", (daughter of Mikhail), refers to your birth father, not ​ ​ Ranyevskaya's husband. Gayev Leonid Andreyevich (Leonid Andreyich* colloquial, Lyonya endearing) (gaIɛv leIənId ​ ​ ​ andreIɛvIʧ) Lopakhin Yermolay Alekseyevich (Yermolay Alekseyich* colloquial pronunciation) (lopakin ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ jeIrməlaI əlɛksIəvIʧ) Trofimov Pyotr Sergeyevich (Pyotr Sergeyich* colloquial, Petya short/familiar) (trofimɔf pjotɚ ​ ​ ​ seIrgeIəvIʧ) Simeonov-Pishchik Boris Borisovich (sImjənɔf piʃʧik borIs) ​ Charlotta Ivanovna (ʃɑrlɔtʌ ivənoʊvnʌ) ​ ​ ​ Epikhodov Semyon Panteleyevich (ɛpikoʊdɔf sɛmjən pæntəleIəvIʧ) ​ Dunyasha (Avdotya Fedorovna full first and patronymic names) (dunjaʃʌ avdotjʌ fɛdɚoʊvnʌ) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Firs (Firs Nikolayevich full first and patronymic) (firz nIkolaIəvIʧ) ​ Yasha (jaʃʌ) ​ ​ ​

Other names, to which the characters refer in the play Fyodor Kozoyedov (fjodor kəzɔIədzɔf) ​ (griʃʌ) ​ Anastasy (anəstazi) ​ ​ ​ Petrushka Kosoy (pɛtruʃkə kosɔI) ​ Dashenka (daʃeIŋkə) ​ ​ ​ Yefimyushka (jɛfImuʃkə) ​ Polya (poljʃə) ​ Evstigney (ɛvstIgni) ​ Karp (karp) ​ ​ Deriganov (dɚIgənɔf) ​ Ragulins (ragulInz) ​ ​ Znoykov (znɔIkɔf) ​ Kardamonov (kardɔmənɔf) ​ ​ ​ Mamochka (affectionate for mama) (mamuʃkə) ​ ​ ​

Geographic names Kiev (kiɛv) ​ Kharkov (karkɔf) ​ ​ ​ Yaroslavl (jɔroʊslɔvəl) ​ Yashnevo (jaʃnəvoʊ) ​ 12

* Chekhov is not consistent throughout in terms of rendering patronymic names of his characters. Most of those on the character lists, as well as in the dialogues, are rendered in their full literary form with the endings –ovich, -yevich. However, some names on the character lists and in dialogues are rendered in their colloquial pronunciation/contracted form, with the endings of –ych, -yich. Asterisks (*) indicate each instance of the use of such a form.

13 History of Studio 210

The BUT: Home to the School of Theatre’s main stage, the Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley ​ Studio 210, the Design & Production Center offices, and the Huntington Theatre Company. The building today known as the Boston University Theatre, and constructed in 1923, was designed as America’s first civic playhouse. Designed by J. Williams Beal & Sons and originally named the Repertory Theatre of Boston, the theatre was built to be a permanent home for the Henry Jewett Players, a Boston-based repertory theatre company. In October 1953, Boston University purchased the facility, and the vision with which the founders had initially created the theatre again began to be realized.

Studio 210: The space was, at one time, a ballroom where Bostonians could go for a night of ​ wining, dining, and dancing. The current “backstage” was actually a kitchen where the food for the guests was prepared.

Girlfriend: A ghost which supposedly haunts the studio. The superstition of BU students is to say ​ hello and goodbye to her if one is the first or last to enter/leave the space.

14 Groundplan

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17 18

19 Program Notes

Welcome to the Boston University School of Theatre’s production of ’s The Cherry Orchard. In order to enhance your interaction with this beloved, important piece of ​ theatre, it is the dramaturgical team’s pleasure to present you with a few basic notes on the history this work and its playwright. Born in 1860 in the port city of Taganrog, Russia, Anton Chekhov encountered a great number of cultures from an early age, meeting with merchants and travelers who passed through his town. Chekhov’s father, the son of a former serf, was both abusive and pious, later the basis for much of Chekhov’s writings on hypocrisy. In 1876, his father fled to Moscow with the rest of the family to avoid debtor’s prison. Chekhov was left in Taganrog to finish his education and earn enough money to support his family, bailing them out much like Lopakhin does for the Andreyich’s in this play. In 1879 Chekhov joined his family in Moscow, studying to become a doctor, a profession which he later referred to as his “wife”, whereas playwriting was his “mistress”. When financial times were tough, Chekhov began writing short stories to earn whatever money he could pull together, but after a short while, these stories gained recognition for their novel style and unique depictions of everyday people. Though these tales are widely studied, Chekhov’s most renowned works by far are his four major plays: , , ​ , and The Cherry Orchard. Each of these works lives in the realm of Theatrical ​ ​ ​ Realism, an aesthetic which he redefined, according to the Norton Anthology of Drama, “through a drama of understatement, indirection, psychological nuance…[offering] a new vision of the relationship between theatre and everyday life.” By strictly maintaining authorial objectivity, Chehov is able to explore peculiarities of character, social class, and political circumstances with an intensity impossible in many of the melodramas and farces popular in Russia at the time. After gaining recognition from Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko’s famed Moscow Art Theatre, Chekhov became the company’s playwright in residence, allowing him to premiere several of his great works, including The ​ Cherry Orchard. Unfortunately, at the time of this play’s premiere in 1904, Chekhov was ​ terminally ill with tuberculosis, causing his death just six months later. Because of this, the play is often seen as his great farewell, not only to the theatre, but to life itself. In terms of the circumstances in Russia at the time of The Cherry Orchard’s production, ​ ​ the country was in a time of great change, giving many people an uneasy feeling not dissimilar from the one many Americans are feeling today. In 1861, Tsar Alexander II issued an emancipation decree which effectively freed all of Russia’s serfs, or the enslaved people who worked the land owned by the aristocratic class. By 1904, the children of these freed serfs were pushing for massive social and political reforms throughout Russia based largely on the ideals of Karl Marx. Just thirteen years after this play’s debut, that pressure came to a head, resulting in a massive revolution which deposed the tsardom and the landowning class, a change which would later lead to the formation of the USSR. As is evident in the text, Chekhov was keenly aware of this rapidly approaching change, though he did not live to see the outcome. Throughout the play Chekhov hints at the teetering position on which the landowning class stood, and attempts to grapple with the effects of that class’ impending downfall.

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