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The full cast has been revealed for The Cherry Orchard coming to the RSC in July. Film and stage star Alfred Enoch joins Kenneth Branagh, Helen Hunt and Bill Pullman in this highly anticipated revival of Chekhov’s popular play.

As previously announced, Hollywood star Bill Pullman (Spaceballs, Independence Day) will play Gaev in The Cherry Orchard, alongside Oscar winner Helen Hunt and multi award-winning actor and director Kenneth Branagh. Branagh is currently starring in The Tempest at the RSC.

Alfred Enoch (the Harry Potter film series, As You Like It) joins the cast alongside Chumisa Dornford-May (Into the Woods, Here We Are), Esther Smith (Trying, Cuckoo) and Sophie Stone (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, As You Like It).

Director and RSC Co-Artistic Director Tamara Harvey said:

“Many of the cast are making their RSC debuts alongside Helen Hunt and Bill Pullman – Chumisa Dornford-May following her incredible performance in Into the Woods, Esther Smith whom I’ve long admired both on stage and on screen, and Sophie Stone, whose work I’ve loved since we first met at RADA.”

The Cherry Orchard begins performances at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon on 10 July.

The Principal Cast for The Cherry Orchard

While Bill Pullman, Helen Hunt, Esther Smith and Chumisa Dornford-May will make their RSC debuts in this production, Alfred Enoch returns to the RSC following his starring turns in Henry V and Pericles.

Kenneth Branagh has had a long relationship with the RSC, making his debut in 1984 as the titular character in Henry V and currently playing Prospero in The Tempest as part of their current season.

  • Helen Hunt (Mad About You, Betrayal) as Madame Ranyevskaya, a woman of the old aristocracy who has since fallen on hard times.
  • Kenneth Branagh (Ivanov, Dunkirk) as Lopakhin, a wealthy merchant from more humble beginnings.
  • Bill Pullman (Spaceballs, Independence Day) as Gaev, Madame Ranevskaya’s talkative and eccentric brother.
  • Chumisa Dornford-May (Into the Woods, Here We Are) as Anya, Madame Ranyevskaya’s teenage daughter.
  • Alfred Enoch (Henry V, Red) as Trofimov, a student and friend of Anya.
  • Esther Smith (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Marys Seacole) as Varya, Madame Ranyevskaya’s adopted daughter who helps her run the estate.
  • Sophie Stone (Mother Courage and her Children, Macbeth) as Sharlotta, governess and companion to Anya.

The remaining company will comprise of Rob Alexander-Adams (Passer By), Michael Elwyn (Firs), Amber Gadd (Dunyasha), Guy Henry (Pishchik), Erin Siobhan Hutching (Offstage Understudy), Julian Moore-Cook (Yasha) and Andy Rush (Yepikhodov).

The creative team

This new version of Chekhov’s final drama is adapted by Olivier Award-winning playwright Laura Wade (The Constant Wife, Posh, Rivals) and directed by RSC Co-Artistic Director Tamara Harvey. The pair reunite following their critically acclaimed production of The Constant Wife and the Olivier-Award winning Home, I’m Darling.

Joining Harvey on the creative team are set & costume designer Anna Fleischle, lighting designer Aideen Malonec, composer Laura Rossi and sound designer Claire Windsor.

Movement direction is by Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster alongside fight direction by Alex Payne, musical direction by Tomek Pieczora and casting by Charlotte Sutton CDG.

What is The Cherry Orchard about?

One of prolific Russian playwright Anton Chekhov’s core plays, The Cherry Orchard follows an aristocratic Russian family as they try to navigate their impending bankruptcy and the loss of their beloved estate and all it represents.

Published in 1903, it was written during a time of great change in Russia, with the decline of the aristocracy and the rise of the middle class. Chekhov’s play reflects themes of a changing society, and how we deal with change and the passage of time

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Main photo: Full Cast of The Cherry Orchard at the RSC

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