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Academy's first performance for the year promises something special

19 March 2008

Fragments and Dreams and The Cherry Orchard will play at The Science Centre, Clayton campus on April 8, 9 and 10.

An Honours graduate ensemble from Monash University's Academy of Performing Arts has plunged into the richness of the literary classics for their first show for 2008.

The two part play, Fragments and Dreams and The Cherry Orchard will play at the Science Centre, Clayton campus, on 8, 9 and 10 April and will also tour local secondary colleges.

Directed by former Home and Away star Deborah Lawrance Fragments and Dreams immerses us in the splendid language of some of the most accomplished writers from around the globe including Shakespeare, TS Eliot, Dylan Thomas, Oscar Wilde, Melville and Solzhenitsyn.

The compilation has been devised and edited by Artistic Director of the Academy of Performing Arts Peter Oyston who believes storytelling is a gift.

"This is the oldest form of theatre since ancient times and our ensemble of actors is presenting a brief but dense kaleidoscope of wonderful pieces of world literature," Mr Oyston said.

An abridged version of The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov's last play first performed in 1904, draws us into the lives of the Russian people in the early 1900s. The serfs have been emancipated and the aristocracy is trying in vain to maintain its status while the middle class struggles with its newly-gained material wealth.

Madame Lyubov Andreyevna Ranevskaya has returned to her family's estate, the Cherry Orchard, in debt. Having disregarded options to save the estate, the family must now sell it to the highest bidder. It is bought by Lopakhin, a local merchant and family friend, who was born a peasant but has become a millionaire.

The unwillingness of Madame Ranevskaya to adapt to the new order brings about her downfall.

Mr Oyston, who directs the play, said Chekhov's talent lies in his dialogue and the seemingly trivial conversations of his characters which open their lives and feelings to the audience.

"First written as a comedy, The Cherry Orchard is almost visionary in its portrayal of the old order replacing the new, while echoing the forces impacting around the globe at the same time," Mr Oyston said.

"Our ensemble of actors has been immersed throughout the rehearsals of The Cherry Orchard - a wonderful tragic comedy which reveals a society in decline."

To secure your tickets for the Academy's first show for the year call +61 3 9905 1111. For further information email boxoffice@adm.monash.edu.au or visit the Academy of Performing Arts website.