THE CHERRY ORCHARD
1903 Script
CHARACTERS
LYUBÓV ANDRÉEVNA RANÉVSKAYA (Lyúba), a landowner
ÁNYA (Ánechka), her daughter, seventeen years old
VÁRYA (Varvára Mikháilovna), her adopted daughter, twenty-four years old
LEONÍD ANDRÉEVICH GÁEV (Lyónya), Ranevskaya’s brother
ERMOLÁI ALEXÉEVICH LOPÁKHIN (Alexéich), a merchant
PYÓTR SERGÉEVICH TROFÍMOV (Pétya), a student
BORÍS BORÍSOVICH SIMEÓNOV-PÍSHCHIK, a landowner
CHARLÓTTA IVÁNOVNA [no last name], a governess
SEMYÓN PANTELÉEVICH EPIKHÓDOV, a clerk
DUNYÁSHA (Avdótya Fyódorvna Kozoédova), a maid
FIRS (Nikolaevich), a servant, eighty-seven years old
YÁSHA, a young servant
A PASSERBY
THE STATIONMASTER
A POSTAL CLERK
GUESTS, SERVANTS
The action takes place on L. A. Ranevskaya’s estate.
ACT ONE
A room which is still called the nursery. One of the doors leads to Anya’s room. Daybreak, the sun will rise soon. It is already May, the cherry trees are in bloom, but it is chilly. There is a morning frost in the orchard. The windows in the room are shut.
Dunyasha enters with a candle and Lopakhin with a book in his hand.
LOPAKHIN
The train’s come, thank God. What time is it?
DUNYASHA
Going on two. (Blows out the candle) It’s already light.
LOPAKHIN
How late does that make the train? A couple of hours at least. (Yawns and stretches) I’m a fine one, too! Made a fool of myself! Came here on purpose to meet them at the station, and slept right through it . . . Sat down and fell asleep. A shame . . . You might have waked me up.
DUNYASHA
I thought you left. (Listens) There, I think it’s them.
LOPAKHIN
(Listens) No . . . They’ve got to pick up the luggage and all that . . .
Pause.
Lyubov Andreevna’s been living abroad for five years. I don’t know what she’s like now . . . She’s a good person. Easy, simple. I remember when I was a kid of about five or six, my late father—he kept a shop then, here in the village—punched me in the face with his fist. My nose bled . . . We had come here to the yard together for some reason, and he was a bit drunk. Lyubov Andreevna, I remember it like today, still a young thing, so slender, she led me to the washstand, here, in this same room, in the nursery. “Don’t cry, peasant-boy,” she says, “it’ll go away by your wedding day . . .”
Pause.
Peasant-boy . . . True, my father was a peasant, but here I am in a white waistcoat and yellow shoes. A pig in the parlor. Oh, I’m rich all right, I’ve got lots of money, but if you really look into it, I’m as peasant as a peasant can be . . . (Leafs through the book) I’m reading this book and don’t understand a thing. I fell asleep reading it.
Pause.
DUNYASHA
And the dogs didn’t sleep all night. They can sense the masters are coming.
LOPAKHIN
Dunyasha, why are you so—
DUNYASHA
My hands are trembling.
LOPAKHIN
You’re much too pampered, Dunyasha. You dress like a young lady, and do your hair up, too. It’s not right. Remember who you are.
Epikhodov enters with a bouquet. He wears a jacket and brightly polished boots that creak loudly. He drops the bouquet as he enters.
EPIKHODOV
(Picking up the bouquet) The gardener sent it. He says to put it in the dining room. (He hands the bouquet to Dunyasha)
LOPAKHIN
And bring me some kvass.
DUNYASHA
Yes, sir. (Exits)
EPIKHODOV
There’s a morning frost, three below, and the cherry trees are all in bloom. I cannot appro...