Thursday, 9th May 2024, 6:30pm
Croatian Library Trsat
Café Fuerte, Hittisau, Austria
A.P. Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard
Director: Danielle Fend-Strahm
Cast: Meda Banciu, Tobias Fend, John Kendall, Johanna Köster, Katharina Uhland, Stefan Weigelin, Gregor Weisgerber
Set designer: Mathias Strahm
Stage movement:John Kendall
Music: Nikolaus Feinig-Hartmann
Premiere:8th November 2023
Running time: 85 minutes
The Café Fuerte group is known for never staging their productions in a theatre building and always choosing the unexpected venues for their performances. This time, Chekhov is set in a railway station. The Cherry Orchard is the Café Fuerte’s first contact with the world of classical drama, but interpreted through its signature contemporary lens. This Cherry Orchard certainly is not the one we are used to seeing. The pared down set with only two chandeliers (placed on the floor) gives way to a play of superb acting, imbued with stage movement and a capella singing. A rare combination of familiar Chekhovian nostalgia paired with contemporary performance that leaves no room for the typically domineering sadness in his plays, makes this production a sudden and unexpected take on a drama we thought we knew everything about.
“Café Fuerte excels in this absurdly funny and exciting performance of Chekhov’s last play that focusses on social change. In Danielle Fend-Strahm’s minimalist production, the actors have no need for an extravagant stage – they manage to masterfully convey the complexity and contrasting identities of Chekhov’s characters in an almost barren space.”
Sieglinde Wöhrer, Neue Vorarlberger Tageszeitung