Il giardino dei ciliegi

The idea for the show came to Kepler-452 when they met two real “imaginary” characters, Giuliano and Annalisa Bianchi, otherwise known as Ljuba and Gaev. In Čhecov’s text, set in an undefined year of the late nineteenth century, the cherry orchard is put up for auction to cover their debts together with their home. The central image of the play is the disappearance of a magical place, deeply impregnated with the lives of its inhabitants.
For thirty years, Giuliano and Annalisa Bianchi lived in a farmhouse by free concession granted by Bologna City Council in the city suburbs. There, they welcome and take care of exotic or dangerous animals, they accomodate ex-isolation detainees as well as an extended Romani family… Thirty years, they say, of pure happiness. Until 2015, when the world’s largest food park opens opposite the cherry orchard. The Bianchi’s receive a notice of eviction. The magic of this contemporary Cherry orchard – with its animals, relationships, affections – suddenly ceases to exist. The essence of Ljuba and Gaev’s story is so distant and yet so similar in time and space.