My theatre appreciation students and I are studying a play that will be 100 years old next year. Anton Chekhov finished his three-year task of writing The Cherry Orchard the year before he died.
It’s a lovely story, but somewhat hard to follow due to the high number of multi-syllabled named characters who flood the stage. As a learning tool I assigned each student and myself a character to discuss. These oral presentations will allow each character to come alive in our minds.
My assigned character is the protagonist, Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya (pronounced “LOU-bov/ Ohn-dray-EV-nuh / Rah-NYEFF-ska-yah). In his translation of the play, Eugene K. Bristow writes that Chekhov was distressed over the Moscow Art Theatre Company’s neglect to hire an older actress who could play Lyubov.
According to Bristow, the playwright explained the role to his wife (the playwright’s wife), who was the actress, Olga Knipper. “You will play Lyubov since there’s no one else who can. She isn’t dressed luxuriously, but with great taste. She is intelligent, very kind, absent-minded; she feels deeply for everyone she meets; always has a smile. . . I never wanted to make Ranevskaya someone who has calmed down. It would take death to calm a woman like that.”
[1.] Chekhov finished writing TCO in
A. 1900.
B. 1901.
C. 1902.
D. 1903.
[2.] The story is in
A. Bulgaria.
B. Yugoslavia.
C. Czechoslovakia.
D. Russia.
[3.] Varya says to Lyubov, “Your rooms are the very same as they were, Mamochka, white and violet.” What do you think Mamochka means?
A. The owner of the house
B. It’s an intimate nickname for Mama.
C. My lifetime friend
D. Woman of beauty
E. Woman of faith
[4.] Which one is not true?
A. Lyubov has been away from her estate for five years.
B. Lyubov has returned from Paris.
C. Lyubov was involved with a man who took her for what she was worth.
D. Lyubov has poisoned her husband.
E. Even though she’s insolvent, Lyubov borrows money to hire an orchestra and to buy food for a dance that she hosts.
Answers:
No. 1 is 1903.
No. 2 is Russia.
As for No. 3, Bristow points out that Mamochka is an intimate moniker for “Mama.”
Lastly, Lyubov would never stoop to the level of Hamlet’s King Claudius..
