The Cherry Orchard- Progress

From our very first read through, I found that I liked the script and had a good connection with the character I was assigned. Yasha, from first impressions, was quite suave and sophiscated ; especially for a manservant, and I felt that I could portray the role more than successfully as it seemed an exciting challenge. It was very different in comparison to 'The Wardrobe' as Benjamin could be seen as the complete antithesis of Yasha as both have very different intentions and objectives. For Example, Benjamin truly cares for his brother and perhaps even thinks more of Daniel than he does himself whereas Yasha only has his own best interests in mind.

I take the role of Yasha in Scene 1 and 2 and, as it was the first read through, we were not yet able to get into the character through obvious limitations however I still worked on becoming the character early so I could further develop personality and character traits towards the latter stages heading up to performance. From the very start it seemed people were already attempting to get into character and therefore stood out for me; these included Chloe S, Jack A and Sam. They seemed confident with what they were doing initially, however it was made much harder for us all when having to get up onto our feet and almost 'perform'; working on deliverance and figuring out where to place ourselves (of course as it is a play by Chekhov, we decided on very much open plan with actors spread across the stage). It took a while for me to adapt to this as our previous performance was no where near as fast pace and did not include so many actors on stage at one time. We were informed by Karen that almost entirely the whole performance had to be at an energy state 8 and could only drop down to a 7 otherwise the audience would get bored easily and therefore lose interest, taking away the naturalism in the drama as a result. I was keen to build on this as my character has bundles of energy due to his age and status of a manservant (is constantly running around for his employers) and then could at least match the energy state.

My only setbacks on achieving this thus far was the fact that I wasn't completely familiar with the script and had to look at it for guidance, and that I was almost trying too hard in matching the speed of the performance and getting my words mixed up or nobody being able to hear what I was saying. This bothered me as I was not able to perform to the already high standard I set myself and the fact that I had been told in the past that I, at times, could not be heard as I would know what I was attempting to say but could not actually speak the words without mumbling. This is a certain flaw I must certainly improve by the performance stage in order to maintain character as Yasha is a confident individual therefore would be whilst speaking- also in order for my audience to actually hear me!

On our second week of rehearsals, I was familiar with the script and knew most of my lines- breaking some barriers towards progress on my part; I now can experiment with movement and actions during scenes. Others I thought were disadvantaged at this point as some still relied heavily on scripts whereas I felt almost in control of my character- becoming Yasha by growing in immaturity and energy.

During our rehearsal of scene two, my character has to approach Katrina (Lyuba, the property owner and head of the family) in order to express how he feels living in the estate (and how he hates nearly everything about it) and to attempt asking to relocate to Paris once The Cherry Orchard and its estate is sold. I was told to go over my approach to Katrina many times in a search to find the truth in what I was trying so hard to ask for; this then took affect once I grew tired of repeating the same lines- this was the tone required for the line as my character would have grown tired of the residence by now as there isn't much to entertain him; so in many ways Yasha has the same mentality that of a petulant toddler...

The Cherry Orchard- Evaluation

EVALUATION

The aim of the task was to perform a piece of Chekhov in a naturalistic way. I think this was at a good standard in most senses as I feel everybody contributed and had a great part to play in the performances and the fact that everyone pulled together in a professional way. I feel that I did my up most in the shows however, when shown the Wednesday performance after show week, I realised that I could do with being louder and therefore using my higher resignators instead of my dominant lower resignators- made obvious by my deeper voice. This will be an obvious pointer to work on as from most audience comments/ feedback forms, my only obvious weakness on stage was the fact that at some parts (including the servant scene where my character pushes Dunyasha onto the piano further upstage) you could not hear me or what I was saying. However I was given great feedback otherwise as most said my portrayal of the character was subliminal, some read "Rhys was great, but a bit quiet at times", "Very consistent and a funny character" and "Scarily sarcastic". This I felt was a great insight on how others see my performance on stage and what I can thrive on and yet improve on all at the same time.

The play was hard to adapt at times with obvious limitations such as characters such as Firs being portrayed by Brad and the obvious age gap between actor and character. However, I felt Brad did very well despite this and was, in my opinion, one of the better actors during performance. In addition, I thought I was able to express my character's immaturity through his age as he would only be in his twenties, therefore an easier age gap to break down. I had tried to express this immaturity through his attitude towards Firs and others by facial expression and body movements around them. For example, in Scene 2 during the party, Firs and Dunyasha are seen to have a conversation about who Dunyasha has danced with and what "the boy from the post office" said to her, I acted curious towards them as I stood over by the piano on the other side of the stage, looking slowly from the floor over to

The Cherry Orchard- Character Profile

THE CHERRY ORCHARD

For our research task into 'The Cherry Orchard', I discovered this was the last finished play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov- written in 1903. The play is seen to be a 'realistic tragedy' and deals with themes such as loss, un/requited love, greed, hate and anger/wrath. These make for a insightful and touching play as the characters could be seen as everyday people (for the early 1900s) and therefore audiences may well share a unique bond with a character or appreciate the performance more for its subtleties. One being how the play could be seen as a comedy- the actors would have to perform with a light heart at times and make scenes come alive just through the deliverance of words spoken and how they were funny just because they left a certain character's lips.



YASHA

For our production of Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard", I was assigned Yasha, a witty yet manipulative, mischievous manservant who could be seen as the only real protagonist in the play. I say this as he is constantly looking for trouble and is successful in finding it. However Alexander could be seen as a real protagonist as well, I believe Yasha has more intent to truly make others lives a misery whilst he gets a kick out of it. In addition, Yasha has no motive and sees people as an opportunity to get his own way. For example, he is known to "befriend"; Simeon for comic relief, Lyuba purely for residential purposes and Dunyasha for his sexual desires as he merely sees her as an object and a 'toy to play with' when he is bored rather than a person.

For my research for the character, I stumbled across the same play that had been made into a short film in 1999 where Hollywood Star Gerard Butler played Yasha. Butler executed the role brilliantly and I enjoyed his moments in the film, yet the Yasha he portrayed was more scruffier and more masculine than mine. Yasha is not particularly liked by any other character but Dunyasha yet is thoroughly admired by the audience due to the character having very good comical timing and portrays a likeable evil in the play. His utter negligence and dislike of Firs is typical of a young hateful man as they both represent the gap in the society at the time and the difference between new and old Russia, suggested by the scene with just the two characters as Firs tells Yasha of 'how it all used to be' and Yasha responding with "Fuck me you're boring".

Previous performances have seen Yasha dressed very smartly, especially for the time period. He is renowned for his stylish and slick looks and the actor portraying him usually has neat and appropriately styled hair and minimal facial hair. The only exception being Gerard Butler in the film adaptation to match his rugged method of playing him, the character then modelling a full beard and shaggy hair.

Yasha does not seem to care for anyone else but himself and could easily be seen as the most selfish character in the play. Supported by his lack of empathy for his mother and the fact that he is known to roll his eyes or sigh whenever she is brought up in conversation, although she is eager to see him. This could be seen as the most discouraging factor about Yasha as he cannot relate to his own mother's love for him, however I do not think that this is expressed enough in the play. His main objective is to cause havoc within the estate in attempt to humour himself as he seems constantly bored (indicated by consistent yawning and fidgeting). In addition, to remain in character I added slight movements and responses towards other characters to appear as I'm listening.