From the traditional interpretation of realism to the modern interpretation of diverse styles, the rehearsal of Chekhov's works is no stranger to Chinese audiences. Worldwide, directors from all over the world regard it as a touchstone of art in order to transcend the traditional laws of drama. "Cherry Orchard", directed by Thiago Rodriguez and starring Isabella Huppel, which was recently staged at the National Grand Theater, is also an attempt by the creator to use the classics to create his own ideas.

　　Yupper, who is delicate in the polyphony of sadness and joy, is out of focus

　　From 1902 to 1903, Chekhov created his last drama in his life, "Cherry Orchard". Born a year before Russia abolished the serfdom, Chekhov stood on the cliff of the century. He experienced the most turbulent and radical period in Russia. In this way, the flow of social classes and the contradiction between new and old ideas in the play all originated from it. However, Chekhov's dramas often deliberately downplay superficial conflicts and point their perspectives to seemingly trivial daily life, but in fact they reflect the common inner world of mankind.

　　There are countless contemporary rehearsals in "Cherry Orchard". The creator must first understand Chekhov's original meaning and extend his own interpretation on this basis. In the original work, Liu Baofu and others are unable to save the difficulties in reality and the disappearance of beautiful things, which seems to be shrouded in sentimental and melancholy mood, but Chekhov defined "Cherry Orchard" as "comedy". In 1904, when Stanislavsky first rehearsed the play at the Moscow Art Theater, he interpreted it as a heavy lyrical tragedy, which attracted Chekhov's dissatisfaction, which he called it "stupid sentimentalism." In the past hundred years, the rehearsal practices of Peter Brooke, Lin Zhaohua and others have paid attention to the inherent comedy characteristics of this drama.

　　Similarly, director Rodriguez did not simply interpret "Cherry Orchard" as a tragic song of farewell and end. He keenly captured Chekhov's compassion and hidden worries, and tried to create a sad and joyful and multi-tone that explores the changes of the times, pain and hope coexist.

　　So, where does this meaning of mixed sorrow and joy come from? In this version, Willow Buff is portrayed as a "tragic character living in comedy." She is unwilling to face reality positively and makes changes, and she is blindly addicted to the nostalgic melancholy. Except for the elderly old servant Fels, the other characters vaguely realized that the future will be very different from the past. They each looked for the glimmer of hope and rushed to the new world of the future, which was in sharp contrast to Liu Baofu's escape. Therefore, Yupell, who plays Liu Baofu, shuttles through the crowd with an alienated attitude. She does not treat her emotions too much, and watches everything in a drunken state. When people gather to revel, she lowers her head and sits alone under the cherry tree. The noise around her has nothing to do with her, as if she knows that her era has fallen. This performance style increasingly highlights the sense of separation between the characters and the times, and all the reactions made by Liu Baofu are also cast absurdly.

　　In 2001, Yupper's intense "roaring" performance in the drama "Medea" was impressive. In contrast, Liu Baofu, who she performed in "Cherry Orchard", was more delicate, constantly swaying between confusion and soberness, childishness and maturity, gentleness and restlessness. The portrayal of the complex inner quiet and deep flow of the characters is exactly what Yupper is best at in the movie. However, without the focus and amplification of the lens, such performances are difficult to be noticed and seen clearly by the audience on the theatrical stage. Perhaps this is also the reason why some viewers walked into the theater with expectations for Pel but returned disappointed.

　　The concrete reference after the context changes has failed

　　As the opening drama of the 2021 French Avignon Drama Festival, this edition of "Cherry Orchard" carries social issues in contemporary Europe. French audiences should be able to better interpret the purpose of casting - businessmen Robasin, Liu Baofu's next generation Anniya and Varya. Their actors are not French actors, and these characters belong to the "New World" in the play. When the "cherry orchard" passes away, they all have their own whereabouts, whether they are renting out land or working for others. But for those who stood stagnant in the old era represented by Liu Bowf and Old Fells, these "new worlds" roles are "outsiders" who break the usual life.

　　In addition, the creation background and premiere time of the drama are also a key to cracking its theme. When the drama was created, many French plays could not be performed as scheduled. The entire society faced strong uncertainty. People were like characters in the drama and had to enter a new world that had been reconstructed.

　　However, when the cultural context in which the audience is located changes, the meaning of this drama will inevitably be weakened, and it will be difficult for foreign audiences to substitute their own life experience, and what follows is an unknown sense of strangeness. This phenomenon also confirms a truth: drama art cannot exist completely without the specific historical and cultural context.

　　From the open-air square of the Pope Palace in Avignon at the premiere, to the indoor framed stage of the National Grand Theater, the changes in the performance space also deviated from the director's original intention of creating. Although the director added a design to break the "fourth wall" and close the distance with the audience for this Chinese performance: Robasin greeted the audience in Chinese as soon as he came up; during the performance, the butler Yebidohov invited the audience to sing the ballad of courtship together; at the end of the third act, when the carnival music stopped, Robasin jumped out again and said, "Chekhov could have stopped here, but he wrote the fourth act." These interactions caused the audience to laugh. In addition, there are few actors in the whole play, and almost no change of lights illuminate every role equally throughout the whole process, and even the audience is brighter than ordinary performances. It can be seen that the director has made a lot of efforts to achieve the effect of separation, but due to the inherent "sacredness" of the framed stage and the limitations of the play-watching etiquette, the audience loses the free perception of the open-air environment, and these designs are a bit stiff.

　　The relationship between characters in modern interpretation is out of order

　　Whether visually or auditory, this version of "Cherry Orchard" gives the audience the first impression it is "modern". The stage design does not illustrate the physical space of the Russian manor in the late 19th century in the original play, but instead constructs a freehand space originating from the script but is extremely concise. Three luxurious lamp stands bent into trees, three straight rails, and chairs that range from neat to messy are constantly moving and arranged and combined as the performance is performed. The rock band that is always present originates from the "Jewish band" mentioned repeatedly in the script. The narrative rhythm is delayed in the music, and the songs that sound in the curtain also externalize the characters' indescribable inner thoughts. At the beginning of the first act, after Liu Baofu returned to the manor, the actors sang the same lyrics, but everyone's handling was different - Robasin wanted to speak but stopped, Liu Baofu forced himself to smile. The non-realistic situation allows the characters to be separated from a distant specific time and space and enter into specific contradictions, making the audience realize that such stories are still repeating themselves and they are also in it.

　　"Cherry Orchard" may be called a group scene, with seemingly unrelated events intertwined and parallel. Director Rodriguez strengthened this sense of disorder, making it connected with the living state of modern people. He believes that each character should try his best to make his own voice, and that their harmony constitutes the polyphonic drama. The most explicit adaptation in the whole play is to deliberately amplify the often overlooked emotional relationship between Duniasha, Yasha and Yebidohof. At first, Duniasha excitedly told everyone that Yebidohof proposed to her! But not long after, Yasha, who followed her master back from Paris, captured her heart with sweet words. There was no bloody conflict between the three, and the undercurrents of the relationship were hidden under the language. When Yebidohof sprinkled the mandolin and courted Duniasha, she danced with Yasha, and the two got closer and closer... The lazy and unrestrained French love was revealed at this moment.

　　"The reason why Chekhov makes people feel friendly is because the characters in his works make us feel friendly. Their love, their pain, and their joy can help us know ourselves and know us modern people." (Excerpted from Ilya Ellenburg's "Rereading Chekhov") Throughout the whole play, the most modern character is Charlotte. She has a monologue that tells her life experience: "I don't have anyone to talk about. I am always lonely, lonely, and no relative or friend. Who am I? Why am I alive? I don't know..." More than a hundred years ago, Chekhov used the mouth of this female governess to geniusly predict the spiritual dilemma of modern people - lonely and absurdly seeking the meaning of existence and questioning the nothingness of existence.

　　In this version of "Cherry Orchard", Charlotte is dressed in bright red, which is extremely eye-catching on the stage with a bleak tone, but she is always alone and wanders away from the incident, as if she is deliberately weakened, but the director adds a scene for her that is not in the original script - she confesses her love to the old butler Fells. New and old, young and aging, absurd or unremarkable... The director left the space for interpretation to the audience.

　　As Rodriguez said in his director's explanation: "Cherry Orchard talks about the pain and hope of a new world that has not been fully understood." Through this drama, Chekhov told people in future generations not to be blindly optimistic, nor to be depressed and pessimistic, but to chant optimistically, "Hello, a new life!" (Zhu Yanning)

　　Photography/Christophe Raynaud de Lage Festival d'Avignon

[Editor in charge: Tang Wei]