The Cherry Orchard The Cherry Orchard The Cherry Orchard () is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by "Znaniye" (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Publishers. It opened at the Moscow Art Theatre on 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Konstantin Stanislavski. Chekhov described the play as a comedy, with some elements of farce, though Stanislavski treated it as a tragedy. Since its first production, directors have contended with its dual nature. It is often identified as one of
Cherry Sisters in modest circumstances. The Cherry sisters were the daughters of Thomas and Laura Cherry. The family was composed of eight children: Ella, Elizabeth, Addie, Effie, and Jessie, their brother Nathan, and two additional siblings who died at young ages. Ella, the eldest, was born in the early 1850s in Massachusetts, but the remainder of the children were born in Iowa, and were raised on a farm in Linn County. The Cherry Sisters' vaudeville act was formed in the early 1890s, after the death of their parents and the disappearance of their brother Nathan. Originally all five sisters were involved, however,