After months of rehearsing on a taped cement floor with acting blocks in place of benches and frames in place of doors, the company finally moves to the theatre space, to a stage with levels and furniture, working doors and chairs out in the audience. The beloved cherry orchard feels so much more real now.
There are boxes of "Gaev cherries," as if they had been packed here at the estate, with window paintings that look out onto springtime trees. Even without sound, lights, or costumes yet, the world is taking shape.
It's interesting how having actual steps (when we had been working with tapelines to suggest steps) and working doors (when we had been pantomiming) seems to interrupt the flow of the action in our first rehearsals in the space. We are all now getting to know this orchard estate we have been building a love for all winter long. And the more familiar our movements become, the more we are remembering the emotional connections we had built in rehearsal.
And though we've just moved in, we will find the heartbreak anew each night as we say farewell to the beloved cherry orchard.
