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PLEASE JOIN THE HUNGER ARTISTS THEATRE COMPANY FOR
THE CHERRY ORCHARD
March 16 through April 7, 2012
FULLERTON, CA – The Hunger Artists Theatre Company is proud to present its 3rd show for the 2012 season, The Cherry Orchard written by Anton Chekhov. This show is directed by Gary McKee, II and runs from March 16th to April 7th.
Amidst a period of social reform, a wealthy landowner and her family must learn to untangle themselves from fear, regrets, and past illusions; as they embark on a journey to losing everything. A contemporary portrayal of Chekhov's final testament reveals how solidarity and beauty can exist in a world without hope
This show features Elsa Martinez Phillips who is a co-founder and past artistic director of Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble. Keith Bush is an Orange County based actor who is portraying Lopahkin. Philip Brickey is a director/actor at STAGES Theater in Fullerton. Adam Ferry is a Hunger Artists Company member and graduate of CSU Fullerton's Directing Program. Catherine Casaol is an actress who has worked on countless independent films and student of the Beverly Hills Playhouse. William Hart is an Orange County actor whose recent works include Malvolio at STAGES Theater and Merriman at Goldenwest College. Nicholas Ventra is a student of acting who is under the tutelage of Fay Simpson and Kennedy Brown. Lisa Valerie Morgan is an LA based actress who recently wrapped the indie film The Deserted and is an company member of Antaeus Theater's A2 company. Danielle Layne is a graduate of CSU Long Beach and was involved in Chavez Ravine by Culture Clash. Geena Brown is a student at the CSU Fullerton theater program. Martina Yrra is a fight choreographer and was involved in Mysterium Theater's Merry Wives of Windsor. Aaron Campbell is an graduate of Circle in the Square Theater Program.
Christina Lawson will serve as Stage Manager for the production. Marco Selva is designing the lighting and Phillip Lenhart is the Sound Designer. Costumes were designed by Elyse Miller and the set was designed by Amy Puntar.
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born in Taganrog, Ukraine on January 17th, 1860. He was the son of a grocer and an excellent storyteller who entertained the children with tales of her travels with her cloth-merchant father all over Russia. When Chekhov was about fourteen, his father moved the family to Moscow, leaving Anton in Taganrog, and now, relieved of work in the shop, his progress at school became remarkable. At seventeen he wrote a long tragedy, which was afterward destroyed, and he already showed flashes of the wit that was soon to blaze into genius. He graduated from the high school at Taganrog and soonafter entered the University of Moscow as a student of medicine, and threw himself headlong into a double life of student and author, in the attempt to help his struggling family. In 1884, Chekhov qualified as a physician, which he considered his principal profession though he made little money from it and treated the poor free. The years 1883 to 1885 were very productive for Chekhov, who was in desperate need of money; but in the general litter of tired jokes and farcical trivia that came from his pen at this time, only a few stories stand out: "Smert' chinovnika" ("The Death of a Government Official," 1883), "Tolsty i tonki" ("Fat and Thin," 1883), "Doch Al'biona" ("The Daughter of Albion," 1883), "Khameleon" ("A Chameleon," 1884),"Ustritsy" ("Oysters," 1884), "Strashnaya noch" ("A Dreadful Night," 1884), "Yeger'" ("The Huntsman," 1885), "Zloumyshlenniki" ("The Malefactors," 1885), "Neschastye" ("The Misfortune," 1885), and "Unter Prishibeyev" ("Sergeant Prishibeyev," 1885). To these early writings of quality must be added Chekhov's only attempt at a novel, the serialized Drama na okhote (The Shooting Party, 1884). Chekhov had made his theatrical debut in the autumn of 1887 with the premiere of his four-act play, Ivanov, at the Korsh Theater in Moscow. Shortly after, Chekhov wrote The Seagull which he renounced the traditions and precepts of the Theater: "Let us have new forms, or nothing else at all." Some of Chekhov's major works include: The Seagull, The Three Sisters, Uncle Vanya, and The Cherry Orchard. In the year that saw the production of "The Cherry Orchard," Chekhov, the favourite of the Russian people, whom Tolstoi declared to be comparable as a writer of stories only to Maupassant. Numerous Chekhov writings have been adapted for the stage and screen by other authors, including Joseph Buloff, Michael Chekhov, Maria Irene Fornes, Spalding Gray, Johm Guare, and David Mamet.
"The Cherry Orchard is a journey about people and fate,” said Gary McKee. “This story has influenced my views about being hopeful and steadfast. We witness a family who lives in the past and the future, but fails to accept the gift of living in the present. I feel as if Chekhov wrote The Cherry Orchard as a means to make peace with his past."
Gary McKee, II is a Los Angeles based artist who graduated from CSU Long Beach with a BA in Performance Acting. Some of his recent acting credits include: The Merry Wives of Windsor (Pistol), The Boys Next Door (Lucien Smith), Pericles (3rd Fisherman/Escanes), As You Like It (Charles), and Metamorphosis (Bacchus et al). At Hunger Artists Theater, Gary has acted in Bat Boy: The Musical as Reverend Billy Hightower, Waiting For Godot as The Boy, and Almost, Maine as Steve. Along side acting, Gary has also directed shows such as The Good Doctor, Mirage (written & directed), Crip Crip, and Assistant Directed The Women of Troy under Bruce Turk
Performances of The Cherry Orchard will take place on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 7 pm. General admission tickets are $18 and students and seniors are $15. Patrons may purchase tickets online by visiting our website (www.hungerartists.com). To reserve tickets by phone, please call 714.680.6803. For more information about Cherry Orchard or the Hunger Artists Theatre Company’s ongoing 2012 season, please visit www.hungersartists.com. Programming, dates and times are subject to change.
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