The Cherry Orchard: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Cherry Orchard, credited to Anton Chekhov, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, translated by Julius West. The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on directing the play as a tragedy. Since this initial production, directors have had to contend with the dual nature of this play. The play concerns an aristocratic Russian woman and her family as they return to the family's estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. The story presents themes of cultural futility — both the futility of the aristocracy to maintain its status and the futility of the bourgeoisie to find meaning in its newfound materialism. In reflecting the socio-economic forces at work in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, including the rise of the middle class after the abolition of serfdom in the mid-19th century and the sinking of the aristocracy, the play reflects forces at work around the globe in that period. (Summary by Wikipedia) Cast: Mme. Ranevsky: Ruth Golding Anya: Arielle Lipshaw Varya: Elizabeth Klett Gaev: Lars Rolander Lopakhin: Andy Minter Trofimov: mb Simeonov-Pischin: Denny Sayers Charlotta: Anna Simon Epikhodov: hefyd Dunyasha: Tricia G Fiers: om123 Yasha: Kim Stich Tramp: Musicalheart1 Narrator: David Lawrence Audio edited by: Elizabeth Klett

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Cherry Orchard
• Author credits: Anton Chekhov
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 5
• Listed recording duration: 2:01:24

Catalogue topics

• audio
• drama
• chekhov

Track guide

1. 0 - Dramatis Personae — 2:06
2. 1 - Act 1 — 38:18
3. 2 - Act 2 — 27:19
4. 3 - Act 3 — 29:39
5. 4 - Act 4 — 24:04

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.