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.