The Cherry Orchard - Directors Note

I learned very quickly that you don’t go into Chekhov expecting to leave with all, or even most, of your questions answered.

On a first watch or read, you might not understand why all of the characters need to be there or be speaking at all, but you certainly understand, through some ethereal beauty, how necessary every word is. After 4 full acts of Chekhov, nothing has happened, because everything has happened, and everyone, and everything, is exactly as it needs to be.

My great-great-grandfather, Morris Krauss, emigrated from Poland (at the time occupied by Russia) in 1906 due to increasing anti-semitism and a forthcoming draft into the Russian Army. He arrived in the United States by ship, the only reminder of his family a set of photographs, all burned at Ellis Island. As he was interviewed by my Uncle Andrew in 1978, “...things are better now. I’ve lived through the changes and I like them. And guess who made the changes—all European people!”

My great-great-grandfather Morris left his homeland two years after Lubov left her orchard. Less than twenty years later, my great-grandfather Julius fled Odesa. 100 years later, Russia has provoked another invasion. And we all feel powerless.

Alex Gross

Director