01911cam a2200229 4500 125991406 TxAuBib 20120127120000.0 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||und|u 4155 LibriVox TxAuBib Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich. Cherry Orchard, The [LibriVox] / Chekhov, Anton. 14 sound files : digital, MP3 or Ogg files. This is an online free audiobook and is compatible in most MP3 and iPod players. The text for this LibriVox audiobook came from public-domain text. The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on directing the play as a tragedy. Since this initial production, directors have had to contend with the dual nature of this play. The play concerns an aristocratic Russian woman and her family as they return to the family's estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. The story presents themes of cultural futility — both the futility of the aristocracy to maintain its status and the futility of the bourgeoisie to find meaning in its newfound materialism. In reflecting the socio-economic forces at work in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, including the rise of the middle class after the abolition of serfdom in the mid-19th century and the sinking of the aristocracy, the play reflects forces at work around the globe in that period. (Summary from Wikipedia, edited by Elizabeth Klett.) In MP3 and Ogg vorbis format. Electronic audiobooks. LibriVox.org. https://librivox.org/rss/4155 TXMLR