We are going to see this in the theatre tonight, with Ian McKellan and other vaunted actors, and I hope it is better on stage than on the page.
I found it dreadfully dull and with too many undifferentiated characters, so was always jumping back to the dramatis personae to work out who was speaking.
The plot seemed to amount to the return of some no longer wealthy characters to their house with its Cherry Orchard, which is going to have to be sold to settle debts. In the end, it is and they all depart.
[Play was easier to follow than text, but still quite hard work. I guess a drama about societal change as the cherry orchard became an anachronism given that its owner couldn’t (and couldn’t be bothered to) fund, so it was bought by the descendent of a serf whose grandfather used to work on it, Excellently played by Martin Shaw; Ian McKellen had the minor role of Firs.].
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