Think of Chekhov as Sad to the Core? Think Again

The Production at Miners Alley Will Change Your View of his Work Forever

       

Len Matheo, Photo courtesy of Miners Alley   

When we think of Chekhov we conjure images of lost and forlorn souls, men hopelessly in love with women who love someone else and vice versa. I tend to see a woman wandering the stage and responding when asked why she always wears black, "I am in mourning for my life. I am unhappy." When I was in my twenties I found that quote from The Seagull wonderfully deep, grown-up, and sophisticated. I remember having the great good fortune of seeing Vanessa Redgrave as Madam Arkadina in a London production of this same play and, sadly, she too was grieving. The most touching moment of Chekhov I recall is of Sonia delivering the brilliant monologue that ends Uncle Vanya: "What can we do? We must live our lives. Yes, we shall live, Uncle Vanya. We shall live through the long procession of days before us, and through the long evenings; we shall patiently bear the trials that fate imposes on us; we shall work for others without rest, both now and when we are old; and when our last hour comes we shall meet it humbly, and there, beyond the grave, we shall say that we have suffered and wept, that our life was bitter, and God will have pity on us. Ah, then dear, dear Uncle, we shall see that bright and beautiful life; we shall rejoice and look back upon our sorrow here; a tender smile—and—we shall rest. I have faith, Uncle, fervent, passionate faith. We shall rest. We shall rest. We shall hear the angels. We shall see heaven shining like a jewel. We shall see all evil and all our pain sink away in the great compassion that shall enfold the world. Our life will be as peaceful and tender and sweet as a caress. I have faith; I have faith. My poor, poor Uncle Vanya, you are crying! You have never known what happiness was, but wait, Uncle Vanya, wait! We shall rest. We shall rest. We shall rest."

            Sorry, I couldn't resist sharing the entire speech.

            But Chekhov identified his plays as comedies and defined The Cherry Orchard as not only a comedy but a farce in places. Director Leo Matheo, who is currently staging the play at Miners Alley, is taking the playwright at his word.

            In The Cherry Orchard, the aristocratic Madame Ranevskaya is struggling with debt and with the need to sell her land and the beautiful cherry orchard that carries such deep meaning for her. The play deals with class and social change, varieties of loss, and our human connection to the land. 

            As a  young man living in New York, Matheo says, he was able to see terrific professional theatre, including Kenneth Branagh as Shakespeare's Henry V and Kevin Kline playing Hamlet. There was also Peter Brook's 1988 production of The Cherry Orchard at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which Matheo found "moving, deliciously theatrical." The Miners Alley production, he promises, has "all the social commentary, economic stuff, and mankind's tendency to put progress over people." But still, "It's just a really funny play; you've got to know how to do it." The translation Miners is using feels modern at times, says Matheo, and is by Stephen Karam, whose The Humans won a Tony Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer. Recently, twenty high school students attended a preview and "They loved it," says Matheo.  The production has a large and impressive cast, and Matheo says he's particularly excited to have Mare Trevathan playing the lead. Trevathan is a strong, powerful, and expressive actor and also one of the best around. I first saw her many years ago in a production at LIDA of Caryl Churchill's The Skriker. Trevathan played this dangerous, shape-changing supernatural creature with stunning versatility, seeming to change effortlessly from a bold crone to a child, a child to a nosy American tourist.  

            There are several other fine talents in this production--too many to list here--and Matheo, having proudly provided the names, mentions Amy Arpan, who plays Charlotte, a governess who does magic tricks and "represents the artists in this world of rich people and serfs." Arpan herself is a magician, he continues, and "We're doing real magic, which is a lot of fun."

            "The key thing is that this has to be entertaining," he adds. "We want to engage people by telling them great stories by making you laugh, cry, think, and see why Chekhov is considered one of the great playwrights of all time."

            It's a miracle that Miners Alley is able to stage anything in this venue at this time--The Cherry Orchard will be followed by the annual production of A Christmas Story--because with his wife and fellow leader Lisa DeCaro, Matheo has been working hard on a new theatre and performing arts center that will open on the 2nd of December in what was once Golden's Meyer Hardware "Lisa and I are raising money like crazy." The project has seen support from Golden's Downtown Development Authority as well as the State of Colorado.

            The current space which has hosted so many fine and daring productions and developed a happily devoted audience, will close for good at the end of the year, and the new venue will open with The Great American Trailer Park in January. Just as in the company's current home, however, the audience space will be welcoming and audience members will be close to the action. They "can see the actors' eyes," Matheo says. "Plays will take place in the round or three quarters, and the seating is flexible. We'll have three hundred seats there, an education center, a second black box theatre and state-of-the-art dressing rooms.

            "I don't know why I am torturing myself doing this," he adds wryly. "But we want to create something for the theatre community.

            "The idea is to create more jobs, and I want to pay people more; I want to give them health care. We're slowly trying to build ourselves up to be a home for theater artists to make a living wage."

            I haven't had a chance to see The Cherry Orchard yet, although I will, but Chris Kendall has. He is himself a fine actor and will be opening in Coal Country at Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company October 26, (for more information BETC.org) Here's what Kendall had to say on Facebook:

What I learned from Chekhov:

Everybody loves someone/something

Everybody hurts

What I learned from Len Matheo:

Chekhov is a 3-ring circus

If a play feels too...something, wait for a better translation

The Cherry Orchard at Miners Alley right now, is a beautiful example of what happens when a vigorous, sparkling new version of a classic play finds its way to a brilliant director who assembles a perfect cast.

            The Cherry Orchard runs through November 5. For tickets and more information: https://minersalley.com/mapac_shows/the-cherry-orchard/