Fantasy Productions

The stage is dimly lit, candle light coming from a hanging type of lantern which appears to have been pulled over and set on the edge of a table. We see a man reclining, close under the light. He is reading a book, but appears tired. There is music playing from an older fashioned record player. Instrumental, soft, a kind of soft lyrical jazz. We sit with this image a couple of minutes as the audience takes their seats in a hushed house. The stage seems to grow a little darker and quieter as the lantern continues to burn. The man moves slightly, leaving the book on his chest as he appears to be falling asleep. We see the title of the book, Four Plays by Chekhov. A moment later the music ends and the record finishes. The needle slips across making the scratching sound. It continues, repeating over and over, that scratching sound of the needle as the record continues to turn. The sound is rhythmic, but a little unsettling. We notice and hear now that the man is snoring. Not loudly but enough to know he is in a sound sleep. And now the ticking of a clock is noticeable as well. There is a clock on stage, the hands seemingly broke or not there, the time not quite evident. The needle continues to scratch. The man snores. And the clock ticks. Everything is still on the stage now except the turning of the record and the rise and fall of the man’s chest as he breathes. This image settles on us. Then suddenly we hear a faint chant. A religious chant. We see a man entering. He is holding and swinging a small burning lantern, with incense. He is a religious figure, priest like. He is leading a funeral procession that comes just behind him. The processional led by the quiet almost inaudible chanting of the priest and the swaying of the smoke of the incense and the glow of the lantern proceeds very slowly across the stage, seemingly completely out of place. There is a small coffin being carried. A child’s coffin it appears. Everyone is dressed in dark clothes, black. There is someone who appears to be the mother in mourning walking behind the coffin. She is assisted by two other women, younger. Some of the people step over the sleeping man. The processional moves slowly across and then off the stage with a certain eeriness. We are left again with the scratching, and the ticking, and the snoring, and the stillness of the stage. The image again settles on us. Suddenly there is a blast of a sound surprising us, alarming us. The man sits up quickly, knocking the lantern from its perch. It swings wildly making a big swaying image of light across the stage back and forth. The sound was unrecognizable at first but then as it continued we know it to be a train, blasting its whistle, applying the brakes, screeching to a halt. The man stands groggy in the weirdness of the swinging light, and the scratching of the record. A woman enters quickly carrying a candle. The man sees her and asks, “What time is it?” She moves quickly using her candle to light a couple of others in the room. “Almost two,” she replies, “Light already.” She sets her candle down and stops the swaying lantern as the man moves to peek out of the curtains. She goes to the record player and removes the needle and shuts it down. “But just how late was the train?” he says, almost to himself.

Thus begins The Cherry Orchard. At least thus it begins in my fantasy production. Every actor and director has a few fantasy roles and productions that they can't wait to create, somewhere, somehow, sometime. They may be "lifelong" dreams or ambitions or they they may be momentary infatuations, flavor of the month type of stuff. Either way they are important in the life of an actor or director. Often it is with these type of fantasies that artists learn really how to analyze, think about, and actualize a production/role. Over time, in imagination or in workshops, or at home in front of the mirror, actors and directors are conceptualizing and mulling over these things. Time is a great blessing in these cases - as is the fact that there is no real pressure to open soon. Therefore, fueled by their passion for the role/play, they think through certain details, justifications, behaviors, etc, in new ways that eventually lead to breakthroughs in their work. Their conscious mind sorts through it and over time the creative subconscious starts to take over and next thing you know - there it is! The fruits of their labor may not manifest in that very role or play they had in mind, but the sheer exercise involved teaches them what they need to know and can use in other roles and productions.