Russian screen and stage star Victoria Isakova is aristocrat Lyubov Ranevskaya in an enigmatic and seductive production of Chekhov’s majestic portrait of a nation facing revolutionary change.

The epitome of measured elegance, Ranevskaya returns to her estate when she learns her beloved orchard is to be sold to pay off debt. Haunted by the all-too-real presence of her dead son, she and her family entourage fail to recognise their plight, living in denial, while the world they know succumbs to the tide of transformation.

Respected director Vladimir Mirzoev presents plays that strike a chord with our times. While The Cherry Orchard embodies the spirit of Russia at the turn of the 20th century, his contemporary version conveys societal collapse recognisable in more recent events. Symbolic, mournful and musical, it includes brilliant performances by this Moscow company, including popular film and theatre actor Aleksander Petrov, their characters standing tall in the shadow of fate.