A wonderful re-staging of a classic play by a talented cast and director
Presented by Adelaide Festival
Reviewed 27 February 2026
Russian playwright Anton Chekhov intended his play The Cherry Orchard to be a comedy but when first produced in 1904, Director Konstantin Stanislavski saw it as a tragedy. The latter is how scholars and theatre directors saw it throughout history. Director/writer Simon Stone (he of last year’s Festival hit, Innocence) has updated the play to modern day Seoul and indeed dots his version with nice snippets of humour playing alongside drama making this version seem almost like a Korean soap opera. This is a nice attempt at popularising a classic for today’s audiences.
Another way Stone has popularised this production is by including actor Haesoo Park, the star of Squid Game, into the very workable ensemble – in fact, this reviewer thinks he spotted a couple of Easter Egg references to Park’s involvement in the streaming hit.
Although modernised, Stone’s version of The Cherry Orchard maintains Chekhov’s original theme of social classes clashing – i.e. the proletariat rising up and the eventual decline of aristocracy (hence setting it in Korea). The plot line is quite involved and complicated which is what gives it its soap opera feel, but don’t panic – the programme gives a very detailed summary of the story plus a breakdown of each Act. There is also a “Character Map” of how the characters are related to each other (making the old adage “You can’t tell the players without a programme” very true in this instance).
Stone believes that dialogue should come from all over the stage with people in one area starting to talk while others in different spaces are still talking – rather than the “I have stopped talking, now it’s your turn” usual method. This is very effective in giving a totally realistic feel to what one is watching, but tends to be confusing when trying to follow the surtitles whilst trying to follow the action. This production is in Korean with English surtitles. Once the eyes align with the brain, things flow a lot easier.
The ten strong ensemble are indeed very strong. Stone has them all using the Festival Theatre stage well, with some beautiful visuals occurring (one such moment received applause on opening night). Stone and his cast use the magnificent set wonderfully. Saul Kim’s very realistic glass enclosed house set is a star of this production in itself. Not only is it two stories high, but the roof is designed for the actors to walk on! – especially effective when one character at one stage refers to Zeus looking down from Mount Olympus, whilst an actor stands on the roof’s pinnacle.
James Farncombe’s lighting design changes hues of light beautifully whilst the music and sound design by Youngkyu Jang unobtrusively meanders throughout, making the audience aware that it is there but never intruding.
As mentioned, the cast are strong and excellent with each of the ten having their moments to shine without ever intruding on another’s moment. Comical highpoints, in particular, come from Byunghoon Yoo as the Uncle, Sejun Lee as the Chauffeur (complete with squeaky shoes), and Sangkyu Son as the Brother who gets us just loving him with a three word Korean phrase right at the end. The only quibble that this reviewer had is that Doyeon Jeon as the leading lady seemed too young and pretty to be the mother of grown up daughters. Also, in the first half, I don’t feel that she gave us the impression that she was (or had been) an alcoholic – this is certainly rectified in the second half by nicely timed delivery.
I must admit that I’m not a huge fan of Chekhov, but this production and version of The Cherry Orchard has won me over.
Reviewed by Brian Godfrey
Photo credit: Jack Fenby
Venue: Adelaide Festival Theatre
Season: 27 Feb – 1 Mar 2026
Duration: 2 hours 30 min (including a 20 min interval)
Tickets: $119 to $159 (plus booking fee)
Bookings: https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/whats-on/season-2026/the-cherry-orchard
