Directing “The Cherry Orchard” has been one of Scott Mullins’ biggest challenges.
The College of Lake County professor is guiding local actors and actresses through the 1904 Anton Chekhov play, which he said is relevant to the 21st century and features tragedy amid humor.
“It’s finding that balance where the comedy makes it entertaining, but also to show what happens to these people in the play is tragic at the same time,” Mullins said. “Balancing those two is really the challenge. That’s what makes this a very, very hard play to direct.
If he achieves his mission when it opens March 3 at CLC, the audience will not only laugh at the humor but also at the end of the penultimate act will be “balling their eyes out,” he said.
The play introduces the audience to a character who has lived a life of privilege and entitlement, and then due to hard times, could be losing the family cherry orchard.
“The only way to solve the problem is to sell the cherry orchard, which they are not willing to do because of their emotional attachment to this place,” Mullins said.
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“Some of the characters react with great hope for the future. Others who are unable to adapt to the changes in their life think the future is not hopeful.”
Mullins said that theme can be likened to the political arena in the United States right now – but it’s not meant to take sides.
“It’s pretty clear to everybody that we’re going through an enormous cultural shift right now – and where that’s going to land is uncertain. If nothing else, ‘The Cherry Orchard’ is having a conversation with the audience about how people deal with change in a time of uncertainty.”
To be sure, some people view Chekhov, the classical Russian playwright, as difficult to understand when they read it, he said.
“One actor, the day after it got cast, said to me, ‘I read this and wondered what I have gotten myself into.'” Mullins told the actor, “‘The Cherry Orchard’ does not leap off the page until it’s up on its feet.”
What makes Chekhov a classic and lasting playwright like Shakespeare is that humans have certain issues that transcend time, Mullins said. “While culture changes and society changes, the issues we deal with are constantly there. There are lessons to be learned about how people lived in Russia in 1904 that if you pay close attention to you’ll realize are enormously relevant to an audience in Lake County or in Illinois or in the United States in 2017.”
Mullins said CLC staff chose the play after realizing they’ve never staged a work by Chekhov in the department’s history.
He said he hopes the play will engender discussion by the audience afterward, but also that it will entertain. “When I go to the theater, I’m looking for entertainment and I also want an emotional experience. ‘The Cherry Orchard’ has the potential to have that effect.”
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
‘The Cherry Orchard’
When: March 3-4, March 9-11
Where: College of Lake County, 19351 Washington St., Grayslake
Tickets: $10-$12
Information: 847-543-2300; www.clcillinois.edu/tickets