UKIAH, Calif. – The Mendocino College Theatre Arts Department will present Anton Chekhov’s humorously poignant play, “The Cherry Orchard” beginning next week.

Performances will run Oct. 21 to 30 in Mendocino College’s Center Theatre on the Ukiah Campus, 1000 Hensley Creek Road.

The play, under the direction of adjunct theater instructor Jason Davis, features a cast of 22 extraordinary local performers, including 14 full-time college theater conservatory students. 

“The play is a comedy about the human condition, economic disparity, and social change,” Davis said.

“The Cherry Orchard” opens Friday, Oct. 21. Performances run for two weekends only, through Oct. 30.

Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21; Saturday, Oct. 22; Friday, Oct. 28; Saturday, Oct. 29; at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27; and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30.

Tickets ($20 general; $15 students and seniors) are available at the Mendocino Book Co., Mendocino College Bookstore and online at www.ArtsMendocino.org .

The performance on Thursday, Oct. 27, is a special discount night, with all tickets costing only $10. Audiences are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance.

The Cherry Orchard is a comedy set in Russia at the turn of the 20th century.

The aristocratic Russian matriarch, Madame Luibov Ranevskaya, returns to her home just before it is to be auctioned off to pay for the mortgage. Liubov deliberately disregards the state of their family finances, while her brother, Gaev, scrambles to find alternative solutions to save their beloved estate.

The character Lopakhin, a former serf, gives the family several options to save the estate. However, the family continually defers making any decisions, and Lopakhin ultimately purchases the estate. The family leaves to the sound of the cherry orchard being cut down. 

One theme the story illustrates is cultural change – in this case, a shift from aristocratic hegemony to the establishment of the bourgeoisie in its newly gained materialism.

“The Cherry Orchard” presents a beautiful painting of the socio-economic forces that moved Russia at the turn of the 20th century – the rise of the middle class and the rippling effect it had on the aristocracy.

The play showcases the emerging talents of fourteen Mendocino College conservatory students.  Among these are Rickie Farah as Anya, Thomas Kenney as the perpetual student, Trofimov, Ari Sunbeam as the roguish manservant, Yasha, Liana Edington as Dunyasha, Will Schlosser as the former serf turned entrepreneur, Lopakhin, Shadi Mahfoud as the ill-fated clerk, Yepikhodov, Melany Katz as Varya, and Ayla Decaire as the mysterious Charlotta.

The cast also includes Stacey Sheldon, Brad McClanahan, Lindsey Chapman, John R. Pegan, Gary Hudson, Max Hovland, Kevin Klay, Owen Browne, Aria McClanahan, Maryann Beucler, Teresa Etter, Makela Yepez, Eleazar Brown, and Patrice Philips.

The play will be most appreciated by those ages 12 and older.

The production features impressive scenery, lighting, sound, and costumes, created by Mendocino College students under the direction of faculty and staff members Kathy Dingman-Katz and David Wolf, and new technical director, Steve Decker. Properties are designed by Joni Derickson. 

The play is being stage managed by the incomparable Ilena Yeru Pegan, with her wonderful band of assistants: Makela Yepez, Margarita Diaz and Joy Brown.

Visit www.mendocino.edu/the-arts/theatre , find them on Facebook, Instagram and an original Web site for the production created by Ilena Yeru Pegan, www.mendocherryorchard.com .