Lin Zhaohua Drama Studio Brings Chekhov's CHERRY ORCHARD to Stage, 1/1-1/3

Lin Zhaohua Drama Studio will present an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's classic, 'The Cherry Orchard' at the National Center for the Performing Arts from January 1 to 3. The production is translated from the original Russian by Tong Daoming.

The cast for the production includes lead actress Jiang Wenli, Zhang Yi, and others. Stage design is by Yi Liming.

'The Cherry Orchard' tells the tale of an aristocratic Russian woman, Liubov, who suddenly recalls the Cherry Orchard which witnesses her early life in her home country Russia and decides to return to Russia with her family from Paris where they have been living for the past years. Everyone in the Cherry Orchard still leads a leisure life, whiling away their time freely. The valet of Cherry Orchard is under illusion that she was born into a rich family, while Petya, who acts as a tutor to Liubov's son, still fantasizes himself being a student in college. Liubov is financially embarrassed, but she keeps up an appearance of wealth in front of beggars.

In the Cherry Orchard, a family's estate, cherry trees are everywhere, and a river winds through it. However, the owners of the orchard, Liubov and her brother Leonid, are deep in debt; to pay the mortgage, the only solution is to auction the estate.

From afar comes the sound of loggers' hacking trees and broken strings; the Cherry Orchard is auctioned when everyone is still living in their imaginations, and its new owner is local merchant Lopakhin. Used to be a serf and whose grandfather and father were also serfs in the Cherry Orchard, Lopakhin earned a lot of money by planting and selling poppies. Even he himself has never thought that the miraculous and beautiful Cherry Orchard finally belongs to him...

'The Cherry Orchard' will run from January 1 to 3. Performances are at 7:30PM at the National Center for the Performing Arts. The theatre can be reached by Underground: Line 1, Tian'anmen West Station (Exit C) or Buses: No.1 , 4 , 10 , 20 , 37 , 52 , 726 , 728 and 802 to the stop of Tian'anmen West.

For more information on this production, please click visit http://www.chncpa.org/n457779/n457834/n516566/2889875.html

Lin Zhaohua Drama Studio was established in 1989. Free from shackles of old systems, the studio is committed to found China's modern theatre forms and aesthetics and create best modern plays. Since the inception, thanks to its independent identity, the studio has produced a number of avant garde plays, surpassed the boundary among traditional and modern theatres as well as various types of art. The studio also integrates Chinese traditional operas and the art of talking and singing into modern plays, forming the unique feature of international influence.
Major works by Lin Zhaohua Drama Studio include Hamlet, Faust, Chess Man, Three Sisters, Waiting for Godot, Old Tales Retold, Charles the Third and The Cherry Orchard. Based on traditional knowledge on Chinese drama, these works reflect people's plight and their attitude to life, expanding forms of modern drama in China.

Its partners include famous playwrights Gao Xingjian and Guo Shixing, Chinese traditional opera writer Xu Ying, scriptwriters Zou Jingzhi and Xu Bin, Chinese top designers Yi Liming and Zeng Li as well as first-class actors and actresses like Pu Cunxin, Song Dandan, He Bing, Xu Fan, Tao Hong and Jiang Wenli.

It also commits itself to fostering the young generation of playwrights in China, organizing and participating in international exchanges and inviting famous artists from abroad to hold training and exhibition in China. It has made enormous contribution to facilitate communication among theatres in China and the world.