The Cherry Orchard Cherry Orchard" was Chekhov's tribute to himself. Many of the characters in the play hearken back to his earlier works and are based on people he knew in his own life. It should also be noted that his boyhood house was bought and torn down by a wealthy man that his mother had considered a friend. The breaking guitar string in acts 2 and 4 hark back to his earliest works. Finally the classic "loaded gun" that appears in many of Chekhov's plays appears here, but this is his only play in which a gun is shown but not fired.
Andrew Upton Andrew Upton Andrew Upton (born 1 February 1966) is an Australian playwright, screenwriter, and director. He is the husband of Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett. As a playwright, Upton created adaptations of "Hedda Gabler", "The Cherry Orchard", "Cyrano de Bergerac", "Don Juan" (with Marion Potts), "Uncle Vanya", "The Maids", "Children of the Sun" and "Platonov" for the Sydney Theatre Company (STC) and Maxim Gorky's "The Philistines" for London's Royal National Theatre. His original play "Riflemind", with Hugo Weaving as an ageing rock star planning a comeback tour, opened at the STC on 5 October 2007 to favourable reviews. "Riflemind" opened