Cherry Orchard By Anton Chekhov, Translation by Lara WadeRSC, Swan | until 29 August 2026 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by Roderick Dungate 8 August 2026
Photo credit: Johan Persson
Cherry Orchard
By Anton Chekhov
Translation: Lara Wade
RSC, Swan | until 29/08/26
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by Roderick Dungate
AD performance, 8 August 2026
Runs 2hrs 15mins, one interval
“A domestic story that encompasses the world.”
This is a terrific production of one of the greatest plays every written. There may be some who would say the production lacks atmosphere or sensitivity. But what atmosphere would it be lacking – tragedy? It is a tragedy of humankind; our inability to accept change, our tendency to muddle along, to make poor decision, to fail at life. Chekhov enables us to comprehend it but does not give us easy catharsis. His characters are tough (Chekhov once accused Stanislavski of turning his Varya into a cry-baby); from the outside we are privileged to, maybe, consider them foolish. We are in a position to learn.
Tamara Harvey and her team understand that to lend a sense of tragedy to the play would be to overlay it with unwelcome sentimentality. They take each moment as it comes and go where it leads them.
So the play is not an easy watch, but it’s rewarding – engrossing, challenging, upsetting, and moving.
The production is not set in Ireland – it is firmly understood to be in Russia – but it is given an Irish context. The team’s detailed use of Irish accents ensures the subtleties of Chekhov’s all important class structures and aspirations are not lost.
Kenneth Brannagh, as Lopakhin, in an unshowy way, drives the play along. His lack of confidence and incoherence are both funny and sad. The partnership between Brannagh and Chekhov reaches a marvellous peak as he tries to explain the drama of the Orchard auction; this climactic moment is brilliantly almost incomprehensible. His is a towering performance, though never greedy.
Helen Hunt as Ranevskaya, fits perfectly into the ensemble. Ranevskaya is a person of swirling emotions which Hunt underpins with great truth. Hunt does not judge her character, only we can do that.
It’s a large cast and there are no weaknesses. Chumisa Dornford-May , Anya, and Esther Smith, Varia, contrast nicely as the two sisters and create a warm bond between them. Andy Rush (Yepikhodov) and Guy Henry (Pishchik) contribute much with their strong sense of grounded comedy.
It doesn’t get much better than all this. It may have been written in 1903, but it still speaks to our hearts today , as well as to our heads.
Cast
Passer-by – Rob Alexander – Adams
Lopakhin – Kenneth Branagh
Anya – Chumisa Dornford-May
Firs – Michael Elwyn
Trofimov – Alfred Enoch
Dunyasha – Amber Gadd
Pishchik – Guy Henry
Ranevskaya – Helen Hunt
Ensemble – Erin Siobhan Hutching
Yasha – Julian Moore-Cook
Gaev – Bill Pullman
Yepikhodov – Andy Rush
Varya – Esther Smith
Sharlotta – Sophie Stone
Creatives
Translator – Laura Wade
Director – Tamara Harvey
Sets & Costumes – Aideen Malone
Sound – Claire Windsor
Audio Describers – Ellie Packer/Carolyn smith