Aussie director Benedict Andrews’s 2012 Young Vic production of Chekhov’s ‘Three Sisters’ was a swooningly uninhibited, hugely inventive masterwork, and by all accounts his 2011 Sydney production of ‘The Seagull’ was no slouch. Somewhat over a decade later and he’s finally returning to wistful Russian titan Chekhov with a take on ‘The Cherry Orchard’ that will drop into the bijou confines of the Donmar as part of Michael Longhurst’s final season.
Andrews’s take on the story of a Russian landowner who revisits the estate she loves dearly only to sell it off comes with some intriguing initial casting: German star Nina Hoss – a regular in Berlin’s many prestigious theatres until her screen career took off – will make her UK stage debut as Ranevskaya, while acclaimed Brit actor Adeel Akhtar (pictured) will return to theatre for the first time in almost a decade to co-star as Lopakhin.
