For immediate release
REVISED

May 6, 2004 

Contact:  Pam Joseph at (419) 995-8284 

Ohio State Lima announces spring production of The Cherry Orchard

Play is first in Martha W. Farmer Theatre for the Performing Arts

The Department of Theatre at The Ohio State University at Lima will present Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard at 8 p.m., May 20-22, and 2 p.m., May 23, 2004, in the newly renovated Martha W. Farmer Theatre for the Performing Arts in Reed Hall.

Universally acknowledged as one of the masterpieces of world theatre, The Cherry Orchard  is a comedy/drama of timeless, bittersweet beauty that tells the story of a family’s inept attempts to save its ancestral estate from auction. Guest actress Sue Ott Rowlands, chair of the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Toledo, will play the lead role of Lyubov A. Ranyevskaya. Jaroslav Malina, one of the world’s top working theatre designers and former Rector of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, returns to Ohio State Lima to design the inaugural production in the newly renovated Martha W. Farmer Theatre for the Performing Arts.

The space features a new fly system that will make it possible for scenery to appear and disappear vertically, which was not an option in the past; a black box theatre for rehearsal and more intimate productions; a costume shop; a scenery shop; and dressing rooms. The renovation was made possible through the generous support of Martha W. Farmer, who started the theatre program at Ohio State Lima in the 1970s. The theatre that bears her name will make it possible to put on productions that are more technically intricate and demanding than those that were possible in the past.

Synopsis

The play takes place on the grounds of Lyubov Andreyevna Ranevskaya's estate, somewhere in the provinces of Russia. Lopakhin, a sometime peasant who has become a wealthy businessman, and Dunyasha, the maid, are waiting for Lyubov. She has been away from home a long time living in Paris with her lover. When she arrives with her daughter, Anya, she is welcomed by her brother, Gayev, and other family, friends, staff and neighbors. Lyubov and Gayev recall happy times from their childhoods on the estate.  But unless the family can raise enough money to save it, the estate will have to be sold to clear Lyubov's debts.  They concoct several plans, one of which entails cutting down their famous cherry orchard.  But no one plan is settled upon.  As August approaches, when the estate must be auctioned off to meet the mortgage payments, what unfolds in this household is a comedy-drama of timeless, bittersweet beauty

 Cast List

Lyubov A. Ranyevskaya............................ Sue Ott Rowlands of Toledo

Leonid A. Gayev............................................ James Werchan of Lima

Yermolai A. Lopakhin............................................. Jair Torres of Lima

Varya.............................................................. Anne Maag of Kalida

Anya.................................................. Bethany Small of Bellefontaine

Charlotta Ivanovna........................................... Janera Torres of Lima

Dunyasha.................................................... Cristin Gerleman of Lima

Yepikhodov.................................... Nathan Remlinger of Fort Jennings

Yasha........................................................... Albert Sullivan of Lima

Trofimov.......................................................... Eliot Walters of Lima

Boris B. Simeonov-Pishchik................................. Marc Reinicke of Lima

Firs............................................................... Joe Brandesky of Lima

Postmaster/Vagrant.......................................... Zack Mikesell of Lima

Lyubov Understudy/Stationmaster...................... Christine Blain of Lima

Partygoers in Act II........................................ Kristi Gayheart of Elida

        ..................................... Patrick DeHaven of Lima

        ..................... Jennifer Poeppelman of Fort Loramie

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Editors’ Note: Use of flashes or lights is prohibited at the performances May 20-23, 2004. They are welcome at dress rehearsals, however. Dress rehearsals will be held nearly every night between now and May 19. Please call (419) 995-8284 to set up a time to come out.