The Cherry Orchard

The question may be asked as to why translate Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard into Korean and stage it with Korean actors. for an Australian audience.

In its deceptive simplicity the house, with the front open to the audience, albeit through the glass windows, allows for the interplay between characters and the exposition of the underlying themes as they unfold. 

Doyoung Song (Doyeon Jeon) returning to Seoul after a long absence comes to a country which is greatly changed. Her own story is one of sadness through loss of family and love, and she finds consolation in alcohol and denial. Doyeon Jeon portrays a woman who is floundering. Rather than attempting to solve the crises in the family fortunes she complains that her party is being ruined.

No help from her brother Jaeyoung Song (Sangkyu Son) who is more interested in perfecting his golf swing and listening to classical music played on an old record player than attending to the  family’s business disasters. 

Doosie Hwang (Haesoo Park) who has become a successful and wealthy business man, although from humble beginnings, offers a solution, which includes destroying the famed Cherry Orchard – a solution too hard for a family entrenched in reputation and wealth to consider.

The clash between the old world and inevitable societal change underlies this production, as it does relationships between the many characters. An argument develops between the academic Donglim  Byun (Yunho Nam) and Doosik as to what constitutes a just society. Added to this is the difficult relationship between mother and daughters. These clashes  help to produce not just tragedy but humour  and the Korean actors prove to be skilled in portraying both.

The answer to my initial question is this. What Simon Stone has done is to show that the underlying themes and the disparity of characters can be not only translated but transported to a version which is as relevant and engrossing as the original. The dialogue, experienced by most of the audience, is portrayed in the surtitles. This does make it difficult, initially,  to be clear who is speaking. When the action moved to outside the house, it is easier to match the dialogue with the actor, so that nothing of the essential story is lost.

In the final scene, as the old world crumbles, the orchard is about to be chopped down, and the family home dismantled each character moves to new life – some with happy prospects, others to uncertainty or to servitude. 

This is a play where a great deal happens, which we follow through the dialogue rather than action. This demands much from the actors from the minor to the major roles, and in this production each person on stage fulfils his or her role magnificently. 

The major roles of Doyoung and Doosie represent the challenges and conflicts inherent in a changing society. Doyeon Jeon, in turn fragile and commanding, is a woman for whom we can feel both sympathy, and exasperation as she refuses to face reality.

Haesoo Park, compensating for the fact that he is not originally of their world with the knowledge that he now owns the solution to the family’s dilemma,  conveys both pragmatism and empathy.

The transposition from Russia to Korea brings with it freshness, humour, and questions which are still relevant.

The Cherry Orchard   Festival Theatre

27 February to 1 March.

images: Jack Fenby