Connection is everything. It helps shape who we are and how we behave towards one another “When we know ourselves to be connected to all others, acting compassionately is simply the natural thing to do,” wrote author Rachel Naomi Remen.
During the pandemic, in the midst of quarantine and social distancing, Arlekin Players Theatre, a theater company made of immigrant actors from the former Soviet Union, created a production, State vs Natasha Banina. Performed live on Zoom, the show centered around connection and the dismantling of it.
(From left) John McGinty, Juliet Brett, Mark Nelson, Nael Nacer, Jessica Hecht, Elise Kibler and ... [+]
In this immersive live piece, which contained interactive elements and animation, Darya Denisova played a teenage Russian girl living in an orphanage who is on trial for manslaughter. She insists she committed a crime of passion. The Zoom audience decides her fate.
State vs Natasha Banina, which was directed by Ukrainian-Born Igor Golyak went viral. Unlike the typical staring into the Zoom square, the production was unique and daring, as if it could practically leap out of your computer. Devoted to creating intimate, boundary pushing virtual theater, Golyak uses video game technology, film and interactive elements.
One of those people who was blown away by State vs Natasha Banina was actress Jessica Hecht. She was introduced to Golyak and his work from her brother-in-law, who, like Golyak, is a Ukrainian immigrant.
“I thought the piece was going to be the classic snore zoom presentation,” shares the Breaking Bad actress. “But after seeing it I came away thinking, his work is amazing. He creates these incredible dynamic pieces of art that are often very technical, but inside there's a lot of heart and emotion and human experience.”
Then when Golyak got passionate about adapting Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard using robotics and other cutting edge technologies, Hecht and Mikhail Baryshnikov, who was also wowed by Golyak’s work. came on board.
As Golyak describes the Orchard, the piece is about trying to find humanity, empathy and hope in each other. “In one sense, it's also an examination of the human soul,” he adds. “How does it happen that amazingly compassionate people forget somebody? A person they love.”
The Orchard features Hecht as Madam Lyubov Ranevskaya. The matriarch of her family, Ranevskaya is faced with losing her beloved orchard in foreclosure and has to get her family out of debt. Baryshnikov plays Firs, the family’s servant and a former serf who is entirely devoted to their well-being. The cast also features Elise Kibler, Juliet Brett, Darya Denisova, John McGinty, Nael Nacer, Mark Nelson and Ilia Volok
“The play is multimedia and also very rooted in the history of a family,” says Hecht. “It’s is about the loss of a world and loss of humanity,” shares Golyak.
While The Orchard can be seen live and in-person at Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City through July 3, there is also a separate live online interactive virtual experience. In the virtual experience that can be watched around the globe viewers can view Chekhov’s letters and visit different virtual rooms while Baryshnikov also plays Chekhov and Hecht plays his mistress.
“The virtual element will bring some of this wild technology that Igor is interested in and looks at in the history of the play,” says Hecht. “You start with the story of Anton Chekhov, his girlfriend, Olga [Knipper] and their love story. Then you enter a real time portal into the play and watch it as we’re doing it onstage on 37th Street.”
The cast of The Orchard
(Left to right) Darya Denisova, Jessica Hecht, Juliet Brett, and Mark Nelson in The Orchard
