The history of the creation of the play The Cherry Orchard is short. The play "The Cherry Orchard": the history of creation

The creation of this work was not spontaneous. The author thought about this story, characters and main idea for a long time. The first sketches were made in 1901, as Chekhov informed his wife. The writing was seriously delayed due to the playwright's poor health. The play The Cherry Orchard was written in 1903 and staged at the Moscow Art Theater the following year. Chekhov created this work based on a real story about how his friend A. Kiselev lost his estate - it went under the hammer. The play turned out to be excellent - its success immediately became obvious. And in our time, this work is played on the stages of theaters around the world.

main characters

• Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya- the owner of the estate with a cherry orchard. Her actions are mostly frivolous, she idealizes her world, not paying attention to real problems.
• Anya- daughter Ranevskaya 17 years old. She is a sane person who understands that circumstances have changed and will have to adapt to a new way of life.
• Leonid Andreevich Gaev- brother of Ranevskaya. He likes to talk very much, he says what comes to mind. Therefore, it is not taken seriously. His character is very reminiscent of a sister.
• Ermolai Alekseevich Lopakhinis a typical merchant. He came from the bottom and earned a lot of money on his own, but remained uneducated.
• Varya- Adopted daughter of Lyubov Andreevna. She is a believer, she wants to make a pilgrimage. When the foster mother left, she was the mistress of the house.
• Petr Sergeevich Trofimov- an eternal student, likes to think about the serious problems of history, philosophy, and the future.
• Boris Borisovich Simeonov-Pishchik- neighbor, has a lot of debts.
• Charlotte Ivanovna- the governess who grew up in the circus knows a lot of tricks. She does not see the point in her life and complains to everyone that she does not have a loved one.
• Semen Panteleevich Epikhodov- clerk, loves Dunyasha.
• Dunyasha- a young maid.
• Firs- an old 87-year-old footman. All his life he served in this house, he refused freedom.
• Yasha- a young lackey.

Summary of the play “The Cherry Orchard”

All events take place in the estate, the main advantage of which is a chic cherry orchard.

Action 1

May 1904. Children's room. The garden blossomed, filling the whole estate with a chic smell. Lopakhin and Dunyasha are waiting for Lyubov Andreevna to arrive. For the previous 5 years she had been abroad with her daughter, governess and Yasha. Dunyasha is very worried about the arrival of the hosts. Epikhodov appears with flowers. The maid tells Lopakhin that the clerk recently offered to become his wife. Crews arrive. Varya, Gaev, Firs and Boris Borisovich come to meet the family. Ranevskaya and Anya are very happy about their arrival and that nothing has changed here, as if they had not been absent for a long time. The house began to fuss. Dunyasha wants to tell Anya what was in the house, but the girl does not listen to her. She was only interested in the fact that Peter Trofimov was visiting the house. The conversations of the heroes indicate that Ranevskaya has very little money.She has already sold property abroad and now in August, most likely, she will have to sell this house with a garden to pay off her debts. Varya and Anya talk about how disastrous their situation is. The landowner herself does not know how to save money, but only sighs and recalls with Firs how they used to make money on cherries and cook delicious dishes from it. Lopakhin makes a proposal to cut down the trees, and divide the area into pieces and rent it out to the residents of the city as dachas.It promises a considerable profit from this. But Ranevskaya and her brother are very fond of this garden and are against such a proposal. Lopakhin asks them to consider this option and leaves.

Gaev hopes to borrow money, and in the meantime, make friends with a wealthy aunt again and solve financial issues at her expense. Trofimov appears, who loves Anya very much.

Action 2

Three weeks have passed, an auction for the sale of the Ranevskaya estate will soon take place. But the family still continues to show off and wait for a magical solution to their problem. Everyone is in nature, in a place where you can see the church and the cherry orchard. Over the past period, Dunyasha fell in love with Yasha, but he is in no hurry to make their relationship public. The governess, the maid, the young footman and the clerk are walking. Charlotte laments how lonely she is, Epikhodov worries that the maid is not building a relationship with him, and even says that he is ready to kill himself. But the girl is so in love with the lackey that she does not even notice how frivolously he treats her. Lyubov Andreevna with her brother and Lopakhin appear near the little church. Leonid Andreevich talks about how convenient the railway is, with the help of which they were able to quickly get to the city and even have breakfast. Lopakhin asks Ranevskaya about the decision to rent the land, but she ignores him, arguing that there is no money, and scolding herself for being extravagant. Ranevskaya and her brother are waiting for the aunt to send them money, but they still would not be enough to pay the debt, and they consider the lease option unacceptable. Lopakhin is amazed at how short-sighted they are behaving, he is angry about this, because his proposal would help save the estate. But they don't accept it. Ranevskaya reproaches the merchant for being mundane and uneducated, but wants him to become Varya's husband.

Gaev says that there is an offer for him to work in a bank, but Ranevskaya immediately cuts off that this is not for him. Then the daughters of the landowner and Petya approach the company. They continue to talk about what pride is and how many educated intellectuals are basically nothing interesting. Everyone goes home, and Anya and Peter are left alone. Anya honestly tells him that this cherry orchard does not mean much to her, and she will be happy to make a radical decision to change her life.

Action 3

August 22 is the day the auction is to take place. Evening, living room, music playing, dancing. Boris Borisovich and Pyotr are talking, they are interrupted by the hostess, who is very worried - she is waiting for Gaev to return from the auction, but he is delayed. Lyubov Andreevna wonders if there were auctions and how they ended. She is also worried about whether the funds from her aunt were enough to buy the estate, although she realizes that 15,000 rubles is too small an amount, it would not even be enough to pay interest. The governess performs tricks and entertains everyone. A young lackey asks Ranevskaya to go to Paris, because he does not like the rudeness of the inhabitants of Russia. Ranevskaya, is waiting for her to leave for the capital of France to her lover, and wants to arrange the lives of her daughters before that. She wants to give Varya to Lopakhin, and Anya to Petya, although she is worried about his uncertain social status and financial condition. The results of the auction are still unknown, but everyone seemed to have already decided what they would do when it was sold. Epikhodov keeps trying to talk to the maid, who is completely uninterested in him, and Varya drives him away. Firs fusses, serving the masters, and everyone can see that he is not feeling well. A very joyful Yermolai Alekseevich and a crying Leonid Andreevich appear. Lopakhin reports that he has become the new owner of the estate. This news delights him, since his ancestors were slaves here, and he became the master. He can't wait for the felling of the garden and the construction of country houses to begin. Lopakhin sees this as a new beginning. Ranevskaya cries, and Varya throws the keys and leaves. Anya reassures her mother, convinces that life does not end there and that many wonderful events await them.

Action 4

The event starts in the former children's room. There is no one, only suitcases with things are standing. A knock is heard - they are cutting down a cherry orchard. Lopakhin and Yasha are waiting for the Ranevskys to come out. The landowner and her brother are very sad, Anya and Peter are in high spirits, Yasha is happy to leave Russia and away from his mother, and Lopakhin wants to quickly lock up the house and start the project prepared in advance. Ranevskaya cries, and Anya says that the sale of the estate has solved many problems and it has become easier for all of them to live.

Family members go to Kharkov, and then their paths will diverge: Lyubov Andreevna takes Yasha and goes with him to France, Anya goes to study, and Petya is going to Moscow, Leonid Andreevich agreed to work in a bank, and Varya will work as a housekeeper nearby. Only Firs remained in the building, who fell ill, but because of the fuss, no one knows whether he was taken to the hospital or not.

Important! A neighbor comes in and gives Ranevsky a debt. He said that he had leased the land to foreigners who were going to mine white clay there. He says it was very scary to do this, but everything turned out as well as possible.

Ranevskaya is trying to marry Varya Lopakhina, but when they are left alone, Ermolai Alekseevich does not propose to the girl, which upset her very much. Crews arrived and began to load things. Everybody left. Gaev and Ranevskaya stay to say goodbye to their home. They weep bitterly and remember the happy moments of their youth, realizing that their life will never be the same again. The house was closed. Here comes Firs, everyone forgot about him. He does not get angry, but simply lies down on the sofa and gradually leaves for another world. The Cherry Orchard is a metaphor that Anton Pavlovich used to describe the collapse of the old way of life in Russia and the construction of a new one. The garden, which was so loved and cherished by the old owners, is cut down without regrets, and in its place something new is built, based on commerce and money. We recommend that you learn another version of the work “The Cherry Orchard” in abbreviation from the video below.

That's why fiction is called fiction.
which depicts life as it really is.
Her appointment is unconditional and honest truth.
A.P. Chekhov

After the play "Three Sisters", to some extent tragic, Chekhov conceived a new play. March 7, 1901 in a letter to O.L. Knipper he confesses: “The next play I write will certainly be funny, very funny, at least in concept.”.

This is the last play of the writer, so it contains the most intimate thoughts about life, about the fate of Russia. It reflected many of the life impressions of A.P. Chekhov. These are memories of the sale of their home in Taganrog, and acquaintance with Kiselev, the owner of the Babkino estate near Moscow, where the Chekhovs lived in the summer months of 1885-1887. A.S. Kiselev, who, after selling the estate for debts, entered the service as a member of the board of a bank in Kaluga, in many ways became the prototype of Gaev.

In 1888 and 1889, Chekhov rested at the Lintvarev estate near Sumy in the Kharkov province, where he saw many neglected and dying noble estates. Thus, in the mind of the writer, the idea of ​​​​a work gradually matured, which would reflect many details of the life of the inhabitants of the old noble nests.

Work on the play "The Cherry Orchard" required A.P. Chekhov great effort. “I write four lines a day, and those with unbearable torment”, he told his friends. However, overcoming illness, domestic disorder, Chekhov created a "big play".

The first performance of The Cherry Orchard on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater took place on the birthday of A.P. Chekhov - January 17, 1904. For the first time, the Art Theater honored its beloved writer and author of plays of many productions of the group, timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the literary activity of A.P. Chekhov.

The writer was seriously ill, but still came to the premiere. The audience did not expect to see him and this appearance caused thunderous applause. All artistic and literary Moscow gathered in the hall. Among the spectators were Andrei Bely, Valery Bryusov, Maxi Gorky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Fedor Chaliapin and others.

Genre detection

Chekhov called The Cherry Orchard a comedy: “I didn’t get a drama, but a comedy, in some places even a farce”(from a letter to M.P. Alekseeva). "The whole play is cheerful, frivolous"(from a letter to O.L. Knipper).

The theater staged it as a heavy drama of Russian life: “This is not a comedy, this is a tragedy… I cried like a woman…”(K.S. Stanislavsky).

A.P. It seemed to Chekhov that the theater was doing the whole play in the wrong tone; he insisted that he wrote a comedy, not a tearful drama, he warned that both the role of Varya and the role of Lopakhin were comic. But the founders of the Art Theater K.S. Stanislavsky and V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, highly appreciating the play, perceived it as a drama.

There are critics who consider the play a tragicomedy. A.I. Revyakin writes: “To recognize The Cherry Orchard as a drama means to recognize the experiences of the owners of the Cherry Orchard, Gaev and Ranevsky, as truly dramatic, capable of arousing deep sympathy and compassion for people who look not back, but forward, into the future. But this could not be and is not in the play ... The play "The Cherry Orchard" cannot be recognized as a tragicomedy either. For this, she lacks neither tragicomic heroes, nor tragicomic situations..

Conclusion

The debate over the genre of the play continues to this day. The range of director's interpretations is wide: comedy, drama, lyrical comedy, tragicomedy, tragedy. It is impossible to answer this question unambiguously.

One of Chekhov's letters contains the following lines:

“After summer, there should be winter, after youth, old age, after happiness, misfortune and vice versa; a person cannot be healthy and cheerful all his life, losses always await him, he cannot save himself from death, even if he were Alexander the Great - and you must be ready for everything and treat everything as inevitably necessary, no matter how sad it may be. It is only necessary to do your duty to the best of your ability - and nothing more.. These thoughts are in tune with the feelings that the play "The Cherry Orchard" evokes.

Conflict and problems of the play

Question

What kind of “unconditional and honest” truth could Chekhov see at the end of the 19th century?

Answer

The destruction of noble estates, their transfer into the hands of the capitalists, which indicates the onset of a new historical era.

The external plot of the play is the change of owners of the house and garden, the sale of the family estate for debts. But in Chekhov's works there is a special nature of the conflict, which makes it possible to detect internal and external action, internal and external plots. Moreover, the main thing is not the external plot, developed quite traditionally, but the internal one, which V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko called the "second plan", or "undercurrent".

Chekhov is interested in the hero's experiences that are not declared in monologues ( "They don't feel what they say"– K.S. Stanislavsky), but manifested in "random" remarks and going into subtext - the "undercurrent" of the play, which implies a gap between the direct meaning of the replica, dialogue, stage direction and the meaning that they acquire in the context.

The characters in Chekhov's play are essentially inactive. Dynamic tension is “created by the painful impermanence” of actions and deeds.

The "undercurrent" of Chekhov's play conceals the meanings hidden in it, reveals the duality and conflict inherent in the human soul from the very beginning.

Literature

1. D.N. Murin. Russian literature of the second half of the 19th century. Guidelines in the form of lesson planning. Grade 10. Moscow: SMIO Press, 2002.

2. E.S. Rogover. Russian literature of the 19th century. M.: Saga; Forum, 2004.

3. Encyclopedia for children. T. 9. Russian literature. Part I. From epics and chronicles to the classics of the 19th century. Moscow: Avanta+, 1999.

A.P. Chekhov first mentioned the idea of ​​writing the play "The Cherry Orchard" in one of his letters dated in the spring of 1901. At first, it was conceived by him "as a funny play, wherever the devil would walk like a yoke." In 1903, when work on The Cherry Orchard continued, A.P. Chekhov wrote to his friends: "The whole play is cheerful, frivolous." The theme of the play "the estate goes under the hammer" was by no means new to the writer. Previously, she was touched by him in the drama "Fatherlessness" (1878-1881). Throughout his career, Chekhov was interested and worried about the psychological tragedy of the situation of the sale of the estate and the loss of the house. Therefore, the play "The Cherry Orchard" reflected many of the writer's life experiences associated with the sale of his father's house in Taganrog, and acquaintance with the Kiselevs, who owned the Babkino estate near Moscow, where the Chekhov family visited in the summer of 1885-1887. In many ways, the image of Gaev was written off from A.S. Kiselev, who became a member of the board of the bank in Kaluga after the forced sale of the estate for debts. In 1888 and 1889, Chekhov rested at the Lintvarev estate, near Sumy, Kharkov province. There he saw with his own eyes the neglected and dying noble estates. Chekhov could observe the same picture in detail in 1892-1898, living in his estate Melikhovo, and also in the summer of 1902, when he lived in Lyubimovka - the estate of K. S. Stanislavsky. The growing strength of the "third estate", which was notable for its tough business acumen, gradually ousted from the "noble nests" their ruined masters, who thoughtlessly lived out their fortunes. From all this, Chekhov drew the idea for the play, which later reflected many details of the life of the inhabitants of the dying noble estates.

Work on the play "The Cherry Orchard" required extraordinary efforts from the author. So, he writes to friends: "I write four lines a day, and those with unbearable torment." Chekhov, constantly struggling with bouts of illness and everyday troubles, writes a "peppy play".

On October 5, 1903, the famous Russian writer N.K. Garin-Mikhailovsky wrote in a letter to one of his correspondents: “I met and fell in love with Chekhov. He is bad. , caress, peace, and the sea, mountains doze in it, and this moment seems eternal with a wonderful pattern.

Chekhov also sends several letters to directors and actors, where he comments in detail on some scenes of The Cherry Orchard, gives the characteristics of his characters, with particular emphasis on the comedic features of the play. But K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, the founders of the Art Theater, perceived it as a drama. According to Stanislavsky, the reading of the play by the troupe was greeted with "unanimous enthusiasm." He writes to Chekhov: "I cried like a woman, I wanted to, but I could not restrain myself. I hear you say: "Excuse me, but this is a farce." No, for a simple person this is a tragedy ... I feel special for this play tenderness and love."

The staging of the play required a special theatrical language, new intonations. This was well understood by both its creator and the actors. M.P. Lilina (the first performer of the role of Anya) wrote to A.P. Chekhov on November 11, 1903: "... It seemed to me that The Cherry Orchard is not a play, but a piece of music, a symphony. And this play must be played especially truthfully but without any real roughness."
However, the director's interpretation of The Cherry Orchard did not satisfy Chekhov. “This is a tragedy, no matter what outcome to a better life you discover in the last act,” Stanislavsky writes to the author, affirming his vision and the logic of the play’s movement to a dramatic finale, which meant the end of the former life, the loss of the house and the death of the garden. Chekhov was extremely indignant that the performance was deprived of comedic intonations. He believed that Stanislavsky, who played the role of Gaev, dragged out the action in the fourth act too much. Chekhov confesses to his wife: "How terrible it is! The act, which should last 12 minutes maximum, you have 40 minutes. Stanislavsky ruined my play."

In December 1903, Stanislavsky complained: "The Cherry Orchard" "does not bloom yet. Flowers had just appeared, the author arrived and confused us all. The flowers have fallen, and now only new buds are appearing."

A.P. Chekhov wrote "The Cherry Orchard" as a play about home, about life, about the motherland, about love, about losses, about the rapidly escaping time. However, at the beginning of the 20th century this did not seem far beyond dispute. Each new play by Chekhov caused a variety of assessments. The comedy "The Cherry Orchard" was no exception, where the nature of the conflict, the characters, the poetics of Chekhov's dramaturgy were new and unexpected.

For example, A. M. Gorky described Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" as a rehash of old motifs: "I listened to Chekhov's play - in reading it does not give the impression of a big thing. New - not a word. Everything - moods, ideas - if you can talk about them - faces - all this was already in his plays. Of course - beautifully and - of course - from the stage it will blow on the audience with green melancholy. But I don’t know what the melancholy is about.

Despite constant disagreements, the premiere of "The Cherry Orchard" nevertheless took place on January 17, 1904 - on the birthday of A.P. Chekhov. The Art Theater timed it to the 25th anniversary of the literary activity of A.P. Chekhov. The entire artistic and literary elite of Moscow gathered in the hall, and among the spectators were A. Bely, V. Ya. Bryusov, A. M. Gorky, S. V. Rakhmaninov, F. I. Chaliapin. The appearance on the stage after the third act of the author was met with long applause. The last play by A.P. Chekhov, which became his creative testament, began its independent life.

The demanding Russian public greeted the play with great enthusiasm, whose bright spirit could not help captivating the viewer. Performances of "The Cherry Orchard" were successfully staged in many theaters in Russia. But, nevertheless, Chekhov never saw a performance that fully corresponded to his creative ideas. "The chapter on Chekhov is not over yet," Stanislavsky wrote, recognizing that A.P. Chekhov had far outstripped the development of the theatre.

Contrary to critical forecasts, The Cherry Orchard has become an unfading classic of the national theater. The artistic discoveries of the author in dramaturgy, his original vision of the contradictory aspects of life are unusually clearly manifested in this thoughtful work.

In his work The Cherry Orchard, the author describes Russia as a whole. He showed her past, painted a dying present and looked into the distant future. Chekhov expressed his own attitude to the events taking place in the country. He predicted the impending changes that awaited the country, although he himself was no longer destined to see them. This is the author's last play, written shortly before his death and taking pride of place in the classics of Russian literature. Below is a brief literary analysis of the work of the outstanding playwright.

Brief analysis

Year of writing - 1903

History of creation - The personal example of the writer's father, who was forced to sell his family estate, suggested to the writer the plot of the play.

Composition— The composition of the play consists of 4 acts.

Genre- According to the author himself, he wrote a comedy. From the point of view of modernity, the genre of "The Cherry Orchard" is more related to the genre of tragedy.

Direction— Realism.

History of creation

It is known from Chekhov's letter to his wife that the author began work on his new play in 1901. The impetus for the creation of this work was the personal family tragedy of the writer. Life circumstances were such that Anton Pavlovich's father had to sell his family estate in order to get out of debt.

The writer was close and understandable those feelings that he endowed the heroes of the play. And this happened not only in his family. Everywhere, throughout great Russia, the nobility as a class was degenerating. Prosperous strong farms were ruined, a huge number of the once richest estates went under the hammer. Thus began a new milestone in the history of the country.

All this destructive process could not leave aside the genius of the Russian writer, and from the author's pen came his last play, which became the pinnacle of the playwright's work. At the time of the creation of this masterpiece of Russian classics, the writer was already seriously ill, the work did not move as fast as he wanted, and was completed only in 1903.

Topic

The main theme of the play- sale of the Ranevskaya estate. And it is on this example that the writer describes the situation in Russia.

All the action in the play takes place around the cherry orchard, the author puts a very deep meaning into this concept. Chekhov personifies the image of the cherry orchard with Russia. During the time of the nobility, virtually all estates were surrounded by gardens, this was their distinguishing feature. The situation in the country is also compared with them: in the past, everything was fine, there was a riot of gardens and greenery. The cherry orchard blooms, filling everything around with its fragrance. And the country rose and flourished. But gardens in bloom last no more than a week, the time comes, and the color flies around. So in Russia everything starts to crumble.

There comes a time when another generation appears. It is ready to ruthlessly cut down these gardens. The degeneration of a whole class begins, the nobility dies. Estates are sold by auction, trees are cut down. The next generation is still at a crossroads, and what it will choose is unknown. With the sale of family nests, the memory of the past is also destroyed, the connection between generations is broken. The present is full of uncertainty, and the future is frightening. Changes are coming, but what they bring is hard to understand. The connection between generations is being destroyed, the monuments that preserve the history of the family are crumbling, and without the past you cannot build the future.

The system of images in Chekhov's play is divided into three categories, on the example of which the life of the country is described. Her past is symbolized by Ranevskaya, her brother Gaev, the old servant Firs. This is the generation that lives without thinking about tomorrow. They came to everything ready, without putting any effort into it and without making any attempts to improve or change anything. It turned out a time of stagnation, which inevitably led them to ruin and impoverishment. Impoverishment, not only material, but also spiritual, when the history of the family no longer has any value for them.

The hero of this country is Lopakhin. This is a stratum of the population that has become a people from the very bottom of human society, who have become rich by their own labor. But this generation is also poor spiritually. Their goal of life is to preserve and increase their wealth, the accumulation of material values.

The future of Russia is personified by representatives of the younger generation. Ranevskaya's daughter Anya and Petya Trofimov dream of a future that they see bright and happy. These heroes are at a crossroads, they are not ready to change something themselves. There is a possibility that they will go by trial and error. They have a whole life ahead of them, and maybe they will be able to build a happy future.

Composition

The play is divided into four acts. Exposition - the inhabitants of the estate are waiting for the arrival of their mistress from abroad. Everyone is saying something, completely ignoring each other, not listening to the interlocutor. Thus, Chekhov showed the many faces of a divided Russia.

In the first act, there is a plot - the mistress of the estate, Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya, finally appears and it becomes known to others that the estate is on the verge of ruin. Nothing can be done anymore. Lopakhin, a former serf, and now a wealthy landowner, offers to somehow save the estate. The essence of his proposal is to cut down the cherry orchard, and lease the vacant plots.

In the second act, the development of the plot continues. The fate of the estate is still being discussed. Ranevskaya does not take any decisive action, she is nostalgic for the irretrievably passing past.

The climax occurs in the third act. Lyubov Andreevna arranges a farewell ball in the estate, which is acquired at the auction by the former serf of the Ranevskys, the current merchant from the Lopakhin family, Yermolai.

In the fourth act of the play, the story comes to a denouement. Lyubov Andreevna again leaves her native country. Her plans are short-sighted and stupid. She will squander her last savings, and she has nothing more to hope for. The former mistress of the estate is so irresponsible and frivolous that she forgets the old and devoted servant Firs in the house. Nobody needs and forgotten by all the servant remains in a boarded up house, where he dies. A farewell chord for the passing past is the lone thud of an ax on the cut down trees of the cherry orchard.

Genre

It is difficult to determine the genre of this work. The author himself admitted that he began to write a comedy, and it turned into a farce. When the play was released on the theater stage, it was given the definition of "drama". From the point of view of modernity, it can easily be classified as a tragedy genre. There is still no clear answer to this question. Chekhov thought about the fate of Russia, thought about what awaits her. The philosophical orientation of this work makes it possible for everyone to define it from their own point of view. The main thing is that the play will not leave anyone indifferent. She makes everyone think about themselves, and about the meaning of life, and about the fate of their homeland.

A.P. Chekhov first mentioned the idea of ​​writing the play "The Cherry Orchard" in one of his letters dated in the spring of 1901. At first, it was conceived by him "as a funny play, wherever the devil would walk like a yoke." In 1903, when work on The Cherry Orchard continued, A.P. Chekhov wrote to his friends: "The whole play is cheerful, frivolous." The theme of the play "the estate goes under the hammer" was by no means new to the writer. Previously, she was touched by him in the drama "Fatherlessness" (1878-1881). Throughout his career, Chekhov was interested and worried about the psychological tragedy of the situation of the sale of the estate and the loss of the house. Therefore, the play "The Cherry Orchard" reflected many of the writer's life experiences associated with the sale of his father's house in Taganrog, and acquaintance with the Kiselevs, who owned the Babkino estate near Moscow, where the Chekhov family visited in the summer of 1885-1887. In many ways, the image of Gaev was written off from A.S. Kiselev, who became a member of the board of the bank in Kaluga after the forced sale of the estate for debts. In 1888 and 1889, Chekhov rested at the Lintvarev estate, near Sumy, Kharkov province. There he saw with his own eyes the neglected and dying noble estates. Chekhov could observe the same picture in detail in 1892-1898, living in his estate Melikhovo, and also in the summer of 1902, when he lived in Lyubimovka - the estate of K. S. Stanislavsky. The growing strength of the "third estate", which was notable for its tough business acumen, gradually ousted from the "noble nests" their ruined masters, who thoughtlessly lived out their fortunes. From all this, Chekhov drew the idea for the play, which later reflected many details of the life of the inhabitants of the dying noble estates.

Work on the play "The Cherry Orchard" required extraordinary efforts from the author. So, he writes to friends: "I write four lines a day, and those with unbearable torment." Chekhov, constantly struggling with bouts of illness and everyday troubles, writes a "peppy play".

On October 5, 1903, the famous Russian writer N.K. Garin-Mikhailovsky wrote in a letter to one of his correspondents: “I met and fell in love with Chekhov. He is bad. , caress, peace, and the sea, mountains doze in it, and this moment seems eternal with a wonderful pattern.

Chekhov also sends several letters to directors and actors, where he comments in detail on some scenes of The Cherry Orchard, gives the characteristics of his characters, with particular emphasis on the comedic features of the play. But K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, the founders of the Art Theater, perceived it as a drama. According to Stanislavsky, the reading of the play by the troupe was greeted with "unanimous enthusiasm." He writes to Chekhov: "I cried like a woman, I wanted to, but I could not restrain myself. I hear you say: "Excuse me, but this is a farce." No, for a simple person this is a tragedy ... I feel special for this play tenderness and love."

The staging of the play required a special theatrical language, new intonations. This was well understood by both its creator and the actors. M.P. Lilina (the first performer of the role of Anya) wrote to A.P. Chekhov on November 11, 1903: "... It seemed to me that The Cherry Orchard is not a play, but a piece of music, a symphony. And this play must be played especially truthfully but without any real roughness."

However, the director's interpretation of The Cherry Orchard did not satisfy Chekhov. “This is a tragedy, no matter what outcome to a better life you discover in the last act,” Stanislavsky writes to the author, affirming his vision and the logic of the play’s movement to a dramatic finale, which meant the end of the former life, the loss of the house and the death of the garden. Chekhov was extremely indignant that the performance was deprived of comedic intonations. He believed that Stanislavsky, who played the role of Gaev, dragged out the action in the fourth act too much. Chekhov confesses to his wife: "How terrible it is! The act, which should last 12 minutes maximum, you have 40 minutes. Stanislavsky ruined my play."

In December 1903, Stanislavsky complained: "The Cherry Orchard" "does not bloom yet. Flowers had just appeared, the author arrived and confused us all. The flowers have fallen, and now only new buds are appearing."

A.P. Chekhov wrote "The Cherry Orchard" as a play about home, about life, about the motherland, about love, about losses, about the rapidly escaping time. However, at the beginning of the 20th century this did not seem far beyond dispute. Each new play by Chekhov caused a variety of assessments. The comedy "The Cherry Orchard" was no exception, where the nature of the conflict, the characters, the poetics of Chekhov's dramaturgy were new and unexpected.

For example, A. M. Gorky described Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" as a rehash of old motifs: "I listened to Chekhov's play - in reading it does not give the impression of a big thing. New - not a word. Everything - moods, ideas - if you can talk about them - faces - all this was already in his plays. Of course - beautifully and - of course - from the stage it will blow on the audience with green melancholy. But I don’t know what the melancholy is about.

Despite constant disagreements, the premiere of "The Cherry Orchard" nevertheless took place on January 17, 1904 - on the birthday of A.P. Chekhov. The Art Theater timed it to the 25th anniversary of the literary activity of A.P. Chekhov. The entire artistic and literary elite of Moscow gathered in the hall, and among the spectators were A. Bely, V. Ya. Bryusov, A. M. Gorky, S. V. Rakhmaninov, F. I. Chaliapin. The appearance on the stage after the third act of the author was met with long applause. The last play by A.P. Chekhov, which became his creative testament, began its independent life.

The demanding Russian public greeted the play with great enthusiasm, whose bright spirit could not help captivating the viewer. Performances of "The Cherry Orchard" were successfully staged in many theaters in Russia. But, nevertheless, Chekhov never saw a performance that fully corresponded to his creative ideas. "The chapter on Chekhov is not over yet," Stanislavsky wrote, recognizing that A.P. Chekhov had far outstripped the development of the theatre.

Contrary to critical forecasts, The Cherry Orchard has become an unfading classic of the national theater. The artistic discoveries of the author in dramaturgy, his original vision of the contradictory aspects of life are unusually clearly manifested in this thoughtful work.