Lyubov Andreevna lived abroad for five years, I don’t know what she’s become now... She’s a good person. An easy, simple person. I remember when I was a boy of about fifteen, my late father - he was selling in a shop here in the village - hit me in the face with his fist, blood came out of my nose... Then we came together to the yard for some reason, and he was drunk. Lyubov Andreevna, as I remember now, still young, so thin, led me to the washstand, in this very room, in the nursery. “Don’t cry, he says, little man, he’ll heal before the wedding...”

A peasant... My father, it’s true, was a peasant, but here I am in a white vest and yellow shoes. With a pig's snout in a Kalash row... Just now he's rich, a lot of money, but if you think about it and figure it out, then the man is a man... (Flips through the book.) I read the book and didn’t understand anything. I read and fell asleep.

You can hear two carriages approaching the house. Lopakhin and Dunyasha quickly leave. The stage is empty. There is noise in the neighboring rooms. Firs, who had gone to meet Lyubov Andreevna, hurriedly passes across the stage, leaning on a stick; he is in an old livery and a tall hat; He says something to himself, but not a single word can be heard. The noise behind the stage is getting louder and louder. Voice: “Let’s go here...” Lyubov Andreevna, Anya and Charlotte Ivanovna with a dog on a chain, dressed for travel. Varya in a coat and scarf, Gaev, Simeonov-Pishchik, Lopakhin, Dunyasha with a bundle and an umbrella, a servant with things - everyone is walking through the room.

She looked back at him.

I will just bow to you and leave immediately. (Kisses his hand warmly.) I was ordered to wait until the morning, but I didn’t have enough patience...

If a lot of remedies are offered against a disease, this means that the disease is incurable. I think, I’m racking my brains, I have a lot of money, a lot, and that means, in essence, none. It would be nice to receive an inheritance from someone, it would be nice to marry our Anya to a very rich man, it would be nice to go to Yaroslavl and try his luck with the aunt countess. My aunt is very, very rich.

Anya appears at the door.

She married a non-nobleman and behaved in a manner that cannot be said to be very virtuous. She is good, kind, nice, I love her very much, but no matter how you come up with mitigating circumstances, I still have to admit that she is vicious. This is felt in her slightest movement.

Surprisingly, something got into my right eye... I couldn’t see well. And on Thursday, when I was in district court...

Still from the film “The Garden” (2008)

The estate of landowner Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya. Spring, cherry trees are blooming. But the beautiful garden will soon have to be sold for debts. For the last five years, Ranevskaya and her seventeen-year-old daughter Anya have lived abroad. Ranevskaya’s brother Leonid Andreevich Gaev and her adopted daughter, twenty-four-year-old Varya, remained on the estate. Things are bad for Ranevskaya, there are almost no funds left. Lyubov Andreevna always squandered money. Six years ago, her husband died from drunkenness. Ranevskaya fell in love with another person and got along with him. But soon her little son Grisha died tragically, drowning in the river. Lyubov Andreevna, unable to bear the grief, fled abroad. The lover followed her. When he fell ill, Ranevskaya had to settle him at her dacha near Menton and look after him for three years. And then, when he had to sell his dacha for debts and move to Paris, he robbed and abandoned Ranevskaya.

Gaev and Varya meet Lyubov Andreevna and Anya at the station. The maid Dunyasha and the merchant Ermolai Alekseevich Lopakhin are waiting for them at home. Lopakhin's father was a serf of the Ranevskys, he himself became rich, but says of himself that he remained a “man a man.” The clerk Epikhodov comes, a man with whom something constantly happens and who is nicknamed “twenty-two misfortunes.”

Finally the carriages arrive. The house is filled with people, everyone is in pleasant excitement. Everyone talks about their own things. Lyubov Andreevna looks at the rooms and through tears of joy remembers the past. The maid Dunyasha can’t wait to tell the young lady that Epikhodov proposed to her. Anya herself advises Varya to marry Lopakhin, and Varya dreams of marrying Anya to a rich man. The governess Charlotte Ivanovna, a strange and eccentric person, boasts about her amazing dog; the neighbor, the landowner Simeonov-Pishchik, asks for a loan of money. The old faithful servant Firs hears almost nothing and mutters something all the time.

Lopakhin reminds Ranevskaya that the estate should soon be sold at auction, the only way out is to divide the land into plots and rent them out to summer residents. Ranevskaya is surprised by Lopakhin’s proposal: how can her beloved wonderful cherry orchard be cut down! Lopakhin wants to stay longer with Ranevskaya, whom he loves “more than his own,” but it’s time for him to leave. Gaev makes a welcoming speech to the hundred-year-old “respected” cabinet, but then, embarrassed, he again begins to meaninglessly utter his favorite billiard words.

Ranevskaya does not immediately recognize Petya Trofimov: so he has changed, turned ugly, the “dear student” has turned into an “eternal student.” Lyubov Andreevna cries, remembering her little drowned son Grisha, whose teacher was Trofimov.

Gaev, left alone with Varya, tries to talk about business. There is a rich aunt in Yaroslavl, who, however, does not love them: after all, Lyubov Andreevna did not marry a nobleman, and she did not behave “very virtuously.” Gaev loves his sister, but still calls her “vicious,” which displeases Anya. Gaev continues to build projects: his sister will ask Lopakhin for money, Anya will go to Yaroslavl - in a word, they will not allow the estate to be sold, Gaev even swears by it. The grumpy Firs finally takes the master, like a child, to bed. Anya is calm and happy: her uncle will arrange everything.

Lopakhin never ceases to persuade Ranevskaya and Gaev to accept his plan. The three of them had breakfast in the city and, on their way back, stopped in a field near the chapel. Just now, here, on the same bench, Epikhodov tried to explain himself to Dunyasha, but she had already preferred the young cynical lackey Yasha to him. Ranevskaya and Gaev don’t seem to hear Lopakhin and are talking about completely different things. Without convincing the “frivolous, unbusinesslike, strange” people of anything, Lopakhin wants to leave. Ranevskaya asks him to stay: “it’s still more fun” with him.

Anya, Varya and Petya Trofimov arrive. Ranevskaya starts a conversation about a “proud man.” According to Trofimov, there is no point in pride: a rude, unhappy person should not admire himself, but work. Petya condemns the intelligentsia, who are incapable of work, those people who philosophize importantly, and treat men like animals. Lopakhin enters the conversation: he works “from morning to evening,” dealing with large capitals, but he is becoming more and more convinced how few decent people there are around. Lopakhin doesn’t finish speaking, Ranevskaya interrupts him. In general, everyone here does not want and does not know how to listen to each other. There is silence, in which the distant sad sound of a broken string can be heard.

Soon everyone disperses. Left alone, Anya and Trofimov are glad to have the opportunity to talk together, without Varya. Trofimov convinces Anya that one must be “above love”, that the main thing is freedom: “all of Russia is our garden,” but in order to live in the present, one must first atone for the past through suffering and labor. Happiness is close: if not they, then others will definitely see it.

The twenty-second of August arrives, trading day. It was on this evening, completely inappropriately, that a ball was being held at the estate, and a Jewish orchestra was invited. Once upon a time, generals and barons danced here, but now, as Firs complains, both the postal official and the station master “don’t like to go.” Charlotte Ivanovna entertains guests with her tricks. Ranevskaya anxiously awaits her brother's return. The Yaroslavl aunt nevertheless sent fifteen thousand, but it was not enough to redeem the estate.

Petya Trofimov “calms” Ranevskaya: it’s not about the garden, it’s over long ago, we need to face the truth. Lyubov Andreevna asks not to judge her, to have pity: after all, without the cherry orchard, her life loses its meaning. Every day Ranevskaya receives telegrams from Paris. At first she tore them right away, then - after reading them first, now she no longer tears them. “This wild man,” whom she still loves, begs her to come. Petya condemns Ranevskaya for her love for “a petty scoundrel, a nonentity.” Angry Ranevskaya, unable to restrain herself, takes revenge on Trofimov, calling him a “funny eccentric”, “freak”, “neat”: “You have to love yourself... you have to fall in love!” Petya tries to leave in horror, but then stays and dances with Ranevskaya, who asked him for forgiveness.

Finally, a confused, joyful Lopakhin and a tired Gaev appear, who, without saying anything, immediately goes home. The Cherry Orchard was sold, and Lopakhin bought it. The “new landowner” is happy: he managed to outbid the rich man Deriganov at the auction, giving ninety thousand on top of his debt. Lopakhin picks up the keys thrown on the floor by the proud Varya. Let the music play, let everyone see how Ermolai Lopakhin “takes an ax to the cherry orchard”!

Anya consoles her crying mother: the garden has been sold, but there is a whole life ahead. There will be a new garden, more luxurious than this, “quiet, deep joy” awaits them...

The house is empty. Its inhabitants, having said goodbye to each other, leave. Lopakhin is going to Kharkov for the winter, Trofimov is returning to Moscow, to the university. Lopakhin and Petya exchange barbs. Although Trofimov calls Lopakhin a “beast of prey,” necessary “in the sense of metabolism,” he still loves his “tender, subtle soul.” Lopakhin offers Trofimov money for the trip. He refuses: no one should have power over the “free man”, “in the forefront of moving” to the “highest happiness”.

Ranevskaya and Gaev even became happier after selling the cherry orchard. Previously they were worried and suffered, but now they have calmed down. Ranevskaya is going to live in Paris for now with money sent by her aunt. Anya is inspired: a new life is beginning - she will graduate from high school, work, read books, and a “new wonderful world” will open up before her. Suddenly, out of breath, Simeonov-Pishchik appears and instead of asking for money, on the contrary, he gives away debts. It turned out that the British found white clay on his land.

Everyone settled down differently. Gaev says that now he is a bank employee. Lopakhin promises to find a new place for Charlotte, Varya got a job as a housekeeper for the Ragulins, Epikhodov, hired by Lopakhin, remains on the estate, Firs should be sent to the hospital. But still Gaev sadly says: “Everyone is abandoning us... we suddenly became unnecessary.”

There must finally be an explanation between Varya and Lopakhin. Varya has been teased as “Madame Lopakhina” for a long time. Varya likes Ermolai Alekseevich, but she herself cannot propose. Lopakhin, who also speaks highly of Varya, agrees to “end this matter right away.” But when Ranevskaya arranges their meeting, Lopakhin, having never made up his mind, leaves Varya, taking advantage of the first pretext.

“It's time to go! On the road! - with these words they leave the house, locking all the doors. All that remains is old Firs, whom everyone seemed to care about, but whom they forgot to send to the hospital. Firs, sighing that Leonid Andreevich went in a coat and not a fur coat, lies down to rest and lies motionless. The same sound of a broken string is heard. “Silence falls, and you can only hear how far away in the garden an ax is knocking on a tree.”

Retold

All the characters in the play “The Cherry Orchard” are of great importance in the ideological and thematic context of the work. Even casually mentioned names carry meaning. For example, there are off-stage heroes (the Parisian lover, the Yaroslavl aunt), the very fact of whose existence already sheds light on the character and lifestyle of the hero, symbolizing an entire era. Therefore, in order to understand the author’s idea, it is necessary to analyze in detail those images that realize it.

Characters and their role in the work

1. Ranevskaya Lyubov Andreevna - a sensitive, emotional woman, but completely unadapted to life and unable to find her core in it. Everyone takes advantage of her kindness, even the footman Yasha and Charlotte. Lyubov Andreevna expresses emotions of joy and tenderness in a childlike way. She is characterized by affectionate addresses to people around her. So, Anya is “my baby,” Firs is “my old man.” But a similar appeal to furniture is striking: “my cabinet,” “my table.” Without even noticing it, she gives the same assessments to people and things! This is where her concern for the old and faithful servant ends. At the end of the play, the landowner calmly forgets about Firs, leaving him alone to die in the house. She does not react in any way to the news of the death of the nanny who raised her. He just keeps drinking coffee. Lyubov Andreevna is the nominal mistress of the house, since essentially she is not one. All the characters in the play are drawn to her, highlighting the image of the landowner from different sides, so it seems ambiguous. On the one hand, her own state of mind is in the foreground. She left for Paris, leaving her children. On the other hand, Ranevskaya gives the impression of a kind, generous and trusting woman. She is ready to selflessly help a passerby and even forgive the betrayal of a loved one.
2. Anya - kind, gentle, empathetic. She has a big loving heart. Arriving in Paris and seeing the environment in which her mother lives, she does not condemn her, but feels sorry for her. Why? Because she is lonely, there is no close person next to her who would surround her with care, protect her from everyday adversity, and understand her gentle soul. The unsettled nature of life does not upset Anya. She knows how to quickly switch to pleasant memories. He has a keen sense of nature and enjoys the singing of birds.
3. Varya- adopted daughter of Ranevskaya. A good housewife, always at work. The whole house rests on it. A girl with strict views. Having taken on the difficult burden of caring for the household, I became a little hardened. She lacks subtle mental organization. Apparently, for this reason, Lopakhin never proposed marriage to her. Varvara dreams of walking to holy places. He does nothing to somehow change his fate. He trusts only in God's will. At the age of twenty-four he becomes “boring”, so many people don’t like him.
4. Gaev Leonid Andreevich. He reacts categorically negatively to Lopakhin’s proposal regarding the future “fate” of the cherry orchard: “What nonsense.” He is worried about old things, a closet, he addresses them with his monologues, but he is completely indifferent to the fate of people, which is why the servant left him. Gaev’s speech testifies to the limitations of this man, who lives only by personal interests. If we talk about the current situation in the house, then Leonid Andreevich sees a way out in receiving an inheritance or Anya’s profitable marriage. Loving her sister, she accuses her of being vicious and not marrying a nobleman. He speaks a lot, without being embarrassed by the fact that no one listens to him. Lopakhin calls him a “woman” who talks only with her tongue, without doing anything.
5. Lopakhin Ermolai Alekseevich. You can “apply” the aphorism to him: from rags to riches. Soberly evaluates himself. Understands that money in life does not change a person’s social status. “A boor, a fist,” says Gaev about Lopakhin, but he doesn’t care what they think about him. He is not trained in good manners and cannot communicate normally with a girl, as evidenced by his attitude towards Varya. He constantly glances at his watch when communicating with Ranevskaya; he has no time to talk like a human being. The main thing is the upcoming deal. He knows how to “comfort” Ranevskaya: “The garden is sold, but you sleep peacefully.”
6. Trofimov Petr Sergeevich. Dressed in a worn student uniform, glasses, sparse hair, in five years the “dear boy” has changed a lot, he has become ugly. In his understanding, the purpose of life is to be free and happy, and for this you need to work. He believes that those who seek the truth must be helped. There are many problems in Russia that need to be solved, not philosophized. Trofimov himself does nothing; he cannot graduate from university. He utters beautiful and clever words that are not supported by actions. Petya sympathizes with Anya and speaks of her as “my spring.” He sees in her a grateful and enthusiastic listener to his speeches.
7. Simeonov - Pischik Boris Borisovich. Landowner. Falls asleep while walking. All his thoughts are aimed only at how to get money. Even Petya, who compared him to a horse, replies that this is not bad, since a horse can always be sold.
8. Charlotte Ivanovna - governess. He doesn't know anything about himself. She has no relatives or friends. She grew up like a lonely stunted bush in a wasteland. She did not experience the feeling of love in childhood, did not see care from adults. Charlotte has become a person who cannot find people who understand her. But she can’t understand herself either. "Who am I? Why am I?" - this poor woman did not have a bright beacon in her life, a mentor, a loving person who would help her find the right path and not deviate from it.
9. Epikhodov Semyon Panteleevich works in an office. He considers himself a developed person, but openly declares that he cannot decide whether he should “live” or “shoot himself.” Jonah. Epikhodov is pursued by spiders and cockroaches, as if they are trying to force him to turn around and look at the miserable existence that he has been dragging out for many years. Unrequitedly in love with Dunyasha.
10. Dunyasha - maid in Ranevskaya's house. Living with the gentlemen, I lost the habit of simple life. Doesn't know peasant labor. Afraid of everything. He falls in love with Yasha, not noticing that he is simply unable to share love with someone.
11. Firs. His whole life fits into “one line” - to serve the masters. The abolition of serfdom is evil for him. He is used to being a slave and cannot imagine any other life.
12. Yasha. An uneducated young footman dreaming of Paris. Dreams of a rich life. Callousness is the main trait of his character; He even tries not to meet his mother, ashamed of her peasant origin.

Characteristics of heroes

1. Ranevskaya is a frivolous, spoiled and pampered woman, but people are drawn to her. The house seemed to open its time-bound doors again when she returned here after a five-year absence. She was able to warm him with her nostalgia. Comfort and warmth again “sounded” in every room, just as festive music sounds on holidays. This did not last long, as the days at home were numbered. In the nervous and tragic image of Ranevskaya, all the shortcomings of the nobility were expressed: its inability to be self-sufficient, lack of independence, spoiledness and tendency to evaluate everyone according to class prejudices, but at the same time, subtlety of feelings and education, spiritual wealth and generosity.
2. Anya. A heart beats in the chest of a young girl, waiting for sublime love and looking for certain life guidelines. She wants to trust someone, to test herself. Petya Trofimov becomes the embodiment of her ideals. She cannot yet look at things critically and blindly believes Trofimov’s “chatter,” presenting reality in a rosy light. Only she is alone. Anya does not yet realize the versatility of this world, although she is trying. She also does not hear those around her, does not see the real problems that have befallen the family. Chekhov had a presentiment that this girl was the future of Russia. But the question remained open: will she be able to change something or will she remain in her childhood dreams. After all, to change something, you need to act.
3. Gaev Leonid Andreevich. Spiritual blindness is characteristic of this mature person. He remained in childhood for the rest of his life. In conversation he constantly uses billiard terms out of place. His horizons are narrow. The fate of the family nest, as it turned out, does not bother him at all, although at the beginning of the drama he beat himself in the chest with his fist and publicly promised that the cherry orchard would live. But he is categorically incapable of doing business, like many nobles who are accustomed to living while others work for them.
4. Lopakhin buys Ranevskaya’s family estate, which is not a “bone of discord” between them. They do not consider each other enemies; humanistic relationships prevail between them. Lyubov Andreevna and Ermolai Alekseevich seem to want to get out of this situation as quickly as possible. The merchant even offers his help, but is refused. When everything ends well, Lopakhin is happy that he can finally get down to real business. We must give the hero his due, because it was he, the only one, who was concerned about the “fate” of the cherry orchard and found a way out that suited everyone.
5. Trofimov Petr Sergeevich. He is considered a young student, although he is already 27 years old. One gets the impression that being a student has become his profession, although outwardly he has turned into an old man. He is respected, but no one believes in his noble and life-affirming calls except Anya. It is a mistake to believe that the image of Petya Trofimov can be compared with the image of a revolutionary. Chekhov was never interested in politics; the revolutionary movement was not part of his interests. Trofimov is too soft. His soul and intelligence will never allow him to cross the boundaries of what is permitted and jump into an unknown abyss. In addition, he is responsible for Anya, a young girl who does not know real life. She still has a rather delicate psyche. Any emotional shock can push her in the wrong direction, from where she can no longer be returned. Therefore, Petya must think not only about himself and the implementation of his ideas, but also about the fragile creature that Ranevskaya entrusted to him.

How does Chekhov relate to his heroes?

A.P. Chekhov loved his heroes, but he could not trust any of them with the future of Russia, not even Petya Trofimov and Anya, the progressive youth of that time.

The heroes of the play, sympathetic to the author, do not know how to defend their rights in life, they suffer or are silent. Ranevskaya and Gaev suffer because they understand that they cannot change anything about themselves. Their social status fades into oblivion, and they are forced to eke out a miserable existence on the last proceeds. Lopakhin suffers because he realizes that he cannot help them. He himself is not happy about buying a cherry orchard. No matter how hard he tries, he still will not become its full owner. That is why he decides to cut down the garden and sell the land, so that he can later forget about it as a bad dream. What about Petya and Anya? Isn't it the author's hope in them? Perhaps, but these hopes are very vague. Trofimov, due to his character, is not capable of taking any radical actions. And without this the situation cannot be changed. He is limited to talking about a wonderful future and that’s all. And Anya? This girl has a slightly stronger core than Petra. But due to her young age and the uncertainty of life, changes should not be expected from her. Perhaps in the distant future, when she has set all her life priorities, some action can be expected from her. In the meantime, she limits herself to faith in the best and a sincere desire to plant a new garden.

Whose side is Chekhov on? He supports each side, but in his own way. In Ranevskaya, he appreciates genuine female kindness and naivety, albeit seasoned with spiritual emptiness. Lopakhin appreciates the desire for compromise and poetic beauty, although he is not able to appreciate the real charm of the cherry orchard. The Cherry Orchard is a member of the family, but everyone unanimously forgets about this, while Lopakhin is not able to understand this at all.

The heroes of the play are separated by a huge abyss. They are not able to understand each other, since they are closed in the world of their own feelings, thoughts and experiences. However, everyone is lonely, they have no friends, like-minded people, and there is no true love. Most people go with the flow, without setting any serious goals for themselves. Besides, they are all unhappy. Ranevskaya experiences disappointment in love, life and her social supremacy, which seemed unshakable just yesterday. Gaev once again discovers that aristocratic manners are not a guarantee of power and financial well-being. Before his eyes, yesterday's serf takes away his estate, becomes the owner there, even without the nobility. Anna is left penniless and has no dowry for a profitable marriage. Although her chosen one does not demand it, he has not yet earned anything. Trofimov understands that he needs to change, but does not know how, because he has neither connections, nor money, nor position to influence anything. They are left with only the hopes of youth, which are short-lived. Lopakhin is unhappy because he realizes his inferiority, belittles his dignity, seeing that he is no match for any gentlemen, even though he has more money.

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Heated debates about the genre of The Cherry Orchard, disagreements between the author and the theater arose already during the preparation period first performance at the Moscow Art Theater. The theater’s reception of the play alarmed the author, as can be seen from correspondence with O.L. Knipper, who noted, among other things, that Stanislavsky “roared all the time” over the play. Stanislavsky, as follows from his letter to Chekhov dated October 22, 1903, insisted that “this is not a comedy, not a farce, as you wrote, this is a tragedy...”. Chekhov also did not like the rehearsals, which he attended in December 1903. Not only the genre shift of the play towards the “heavy drama of Russian life,” but also the unbearable lengths irritate Chekhov. Nemirovich-Danchenko in his memoirs about the first production of “The Cherry Orchard”, which took place January 17, 1904, admitted that there was a “misunderstanding of Chekhov” - the delicate fabric of the work “the theater took with too rough hands.”

The author's dissatisfaction and his own dissatisfaction forced the theater to continue working on the play. According to Nemirovich, over time the performance got rid of precisely those shortcomings that Chekhov pointed out, but still there was no complete transfer of the “author’s worldview.” The growing success of the play was evidenced by press reviews of the tour in St. Petersburg, as well as the growing popularity of the play among the provincial theater.

In 1928 Moscow Art Theater resumed The Cherry Orchard, wanting to prove that Chekhov is close to the new time. In accordance with the requirements of the moment, the satirical features in the image of Gaev were strengthened, but the desire to imbue the performance with historical optimism - evidence of this intention are the well-known lines from “My Life in Art”, where Stanislavsky wants to give Lopakhin “the scope of Chaliapin”, and Anya “the temperament Ermolova” and shout to the whole world “Hello, new life!” - had no practical implementation. Meanwhile, the Moscow Art Theater tradition of the elegiac performance of “The Cherry Orchard” was strengthened quite firmly, and therefore could not but cause denial at the height of the “sociological revaluation” of Chekhov in the thirties.

A sharp polemic against the Chekhov canon of the Art Theater was the production of “The Cherry Orchard” by A.M. Lobanov at the Studio Theater under the leadership of R.N. Simonov in 1934. The director said: “I am for Chekhov, but against the Moscow Art Theater.” Lobanov did not see any fundamental difference between the characters in the play: everyone was still absorbed by the vaudeville bourgeois environment, Trofimov in the play made us remember Gorky’s characterization of the “trashy student” who “speaks eloquently”: he recited in the bathhouse in front of the high school students (this is how the line “To talk about sex” was interpreted) decadents!"). Anya, first of all, according to Chekhov, the “child” turned into a girl who “condemned her mother and rather angrily gossiped about her,” the “attraction of the aging Ranevskaya to the young footman” was emphasized (Yasha turned out to be Ranevskaya’s lover, sang chansonettes and danced the cancan) . And Firs died “while performing some complex physical exercises.” The performance, as one might expect, caused heated controversy - critic Yu. Yuzovsky came to the director’s defense, but he also recognized the influence of vulgar sociological concepts on the director.

The theme of the death of culture was seen in the play by A. V. Efros in a vivid interpretation of the play staged at the Taganka Theater in 1975. In the scenography by V.Ya. For Leventhal, this reading was expressed in transferring the action to the cemetery. Everyone in the play, especially the unusual Lopakhin - V.S., yearned for beauty. Vysotsky, but they could not comprehend her completely and could not save her. The actor seemed to remind the viewer of Chekhov’s words about an intelligent person, about Lopakhin’s “thin, like an artist’s” fingers, who painfully wants to join the inaccessible world of culture and cannot. The words at the end of Act III “Who bought it?” - “I bought” at the performance sounded like: “Who killed?” - "I killed". In his “drunken dance,” Lopakhin-Vysotsky sought to drown the feeling of guilt that was never fully realized.

Unusual for Theater of Satire, “The Cherry Orchard” by V.N. was elegiac. Pluchek (1984) with unconventional, enlightened images of Gaev (A.D. Papanov) and Lopakhin (A.A. Mironov). The garden in the play bifurcated - Lopakhin got the ugly cherry trees, but above the stage, in the play of light, an elusive ghost garden, a memory garden, a dream garden appeared above the stage. Such readings were certainly influenced by emerging studies on the semantics of the image of a garden in Chekhov. The tragic tone prevailed in I. V. Ilyinsky’s production on the stage of the Maly Theater (1982). Productions by G.B. Volchek at the Sovremennik Theater(1976 and 1997) differed in tonality - the latter raised the tone of the performance and made Chekhov “energetic.” M.M. Ranevskaya became broken, nervous, suddenly moving from laughter to tears in the new production. Neelova.

In the post-war foreign theater, “The Cherry Orchard” becomes one of Chekhov’s most popular plays. Following Pitoev in France, Jean-Louis Barrault turns out to be a Chekhov director, who directed “The Cherry Orchard,” at the Odeon theater translated by Jacques Neveu in 1954. It is from this performance that the tradition of perceiving the play as a parable about the relationship between man and time originates. The director said about his “motto”: “About a person. Through a person. In the name of man." The performance became an event in the cultural life of France not only thanks to the excellent performance of Madeleine Renault - Ranevskaya and other performers, but also thanks to the serious philosophical approach to the Russian author, who rejected abstract cliché ideas about “Slavic melancholy” and “Russian soul”.

However, the most famous innovative interpretation of the play in modern Western theater was the production by Giorgio Strehler at the Piccolo di Milano Theater. The director concludes that the time has come to present The Cherry Orchard as “more universal, more symbolic, more open to fantasy.” Strehler put forward an original concept for the play, calling it “the problem of three boxes.” Three boxes, nested one inside the other, reflect the relationship between the three time dimensions of the play: real time - the lives of Ranevskaya and Gaev, historical time, where events are seen as if from the outside, and philosophical time. The third box - the Life Box - gives the action a generalized symbolic sound. In Strehler's play, the main character was the Cherry Orchard, designed in a metaphorical way, in the form of a dome hovering above the stage (the play was designed by Josef Svoboda). Since then, the semantics of the color white has been of great interest to the direction of Chekhov's theater. The hagiographic plan of the production was emphasized by individual mise-en-scenes and symbolic objects. So, Ranevskaya, according to Strehler, returns not just home, but to childhood - children’s toys fell out of the “respected closets” here.

The theme of the loss of culture, seen in the loss of the cherry orchard, came to the fore in another famous play - staged by Peter Brook at the Théâtre Buffe du Nord in Paris in 1980. Narrative, philosophical, lasting every minute of stage life was “The Cherry Orchard” by Peter Stein, shown in Moscow in 1991. Critics noted that for the director, “no one died. Everyone is alive - Chekhov, Stanislavsky, and the hundred-year-old Firs.”