Cherry Orchard By Chekhov
From the Anton Chekhov play, The Cherry
Orchard, performed at the O'Reilly
Theater, the character Varya is quite
unique. Varya embodies Chekhov's idea of
comedy, she is waiting for events to
happen, but in reality they will never
happen. Varya is probably motivated by
her quest for happiness, and what she
really wants. She wants to marry
Lopakhin, or does she? She probably doesn't
truly love him but is motivated
to marry him because she knows that she will
have a less glamorous future
without him. Until the auction, she is hopeful that
the Cherry Orchard and
their estate will be saved, but it is doomed from the
beginning. Varya is a
great example of Chekhov's subtextual style. She has an
immense inner
conflict, and the actress who portrayed her, Lisa Levy, did an
adequate job
of relating that message. Varya speaks in a highly emotional,
sometimes
sullen voice throughout most of the play, and cries often. She
consistently
wears black clothing, as if attending a funeral. This is probably
to
emphasize her outlook on her life and future in Russia. She is 27 years
old,
and yet to be married, a rarity in those times, and Lopakhin has yet to
propose
to her and she doesn't know why. As for the play's impact on my
intellect and
emotions, I'll be honest, it wasn't much. This is difficult to
say, knowing that
Chekhov is considered one of the great playwrights of
our time. I don't know if
this means that the play was over my head, or the
actors weren't that good
(which I doubt). To me, The Cherry Orchard seemed
like a play of its time, and
many of us don't know the attitudes and
emotional state of mind in Russia in the
turn of the last century. I think,
what Chekhov and his contemporaries and maybe
play scholars might find
humorous, I found sad, even tragic, and that was not
Chekhov's intentions for
the play.