STEPHANIE DENNISON and ALFREDO LUIZ DE OLIVEIRA SUPPIA explain the political context of The Secret Agent, a gripping thriller that reminds us why academic freedom needs protecting
Latest editorial
A Cherry Orchard ripe with contemporary resonance
Role-playing: Eva Magyar (centre) as Charlotta
[Jon Rowley]
TONY BURKE speaks to producer and broadcaster LUCY DURAN about her new project — Guitari Baro
JONATHAN TAYLOR is intrigued how good storytelling can make a hobby as obsessional as metal detecting seem fascinating
ROB HARGREAVES is moved by the way that memories of the Spanish civil war still stir our passions
RON JACOBS sees similarities between the personality of the the Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco, and Donald Trump
RUTH AYLETT recommends this book if you want to learn how AI’s large language models work
The Cherry Orchard
Bristol Old Vic
IF YOU are hoping to reconfirm expectations of a lyrical turn of-the-century masterpiece, where inevitable social upheaval on a provincial Russian estate mirrors the mood of the passing seasons and elegiac sentiment prevails, this production of The Cherry Orchard is likely to disappoint.
Director Michael Boyd has worked with Rory Mullarky to produce a fresh, vibrant translation of Anton Chekhov's play, giving it a far more contemporary resonance, while Tom Piper’s in-the-round stage design makes the audience a key element. This is very much a production about performance and communication or, rather, its absence.
Similar stories
SIMON PARSONS is taken by a thought provoking and intelligent play performed with great sensitivity
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PAUL FOLEY is disappointed by a production that encourages the audience to laugh at rather than with the characters
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by characters so un-nuanced as to be unreal, a stereotypical plot and a conceptual vampire