Set at the very start of the twentieth century, The Cherry Orchard captures a poignant moment in Russia’s history as the country rolls inexorably towards 1917.

This new version of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard reunites director Howard Davies with Andrew Upton following their acclaimed productions of Philistines and The White Guard.

Ranyevskaya returns more or less bankrupt after ten years abroad. Luxuriating in her fading moneyed world and regardless of the increasingly hostile forces outside, she and her brother snub the lucrative scheme of Lopakhin, a peasant turned entrepreneur, to save the family estate. In so doing, they put up their lives to auction and seal the fate of the beloved orchard.

The cast of The Cherry Orchard is led by Zoe Wanamaker, working with Howard Davies again after the hugely popular 2010 revival of All My Sons. Her previous productions at the National Theatre include Much Ado About Nothing, The Rose Tattoo and His Girl Friday.

Wanamaker is joined in the cast by Olivier Award-winner Conleth Hill, Claudie Blakely (Lark Rise To Candleford) and Charity Wakefield (Any Human Heart, Sense And Sensibility).