A Note from the Director

Thirteen months ago, the New Yorker published an article by Jonathan Franzen titled “What if We Stopped Pretending?” with a summary underneath that read, “The climate apocalypse is coming. To prepare for it we need to admit that we can’t prevent it.” I later followed up with sources and friends who clarified why Franzen’s perspective was not only lazy but also dangerous. But his argument got me thinking about the relationship between delusion about necessary change and privilege. And then I started thinking about The Cherry Orchard. 

The Cherry Orchard was one of the first (and only) acting gigs I booked out of college. I played Trofimov, the young idealist, desperate to convince a dying generation of the need for social change. Reflecting on Franzen’s article, I thought of the many young Trofimovs throughout time asking their parents for an answer. When my fellow liberal millennials and I are the age the “boomer” generation is now, and younger generations come to us asking what we *did* about the climate crisis...what will we be able to say? Will telling them we posted on Instagram be enough? That we stopped using plastic straws? That we tried to vote for the right people? What, in retrospect, will look and feel delusional? In reality, I see more of myself in the matriarch of the play you are about to see than I would care to admit. 

I brought the idea to do a climate-crisis-geared Cherry Orchard to Matt Minnicino, known Chekov-adapter and playwright extraordinaire. One of the earliest ideas he elucidated was that it is a privilege to even consider and pontificate about the effects of the rapidly changing climate. It is the people who do not have the privilege to consider its devastating consequences that are most likely to suffer at its hands. Together, we tried to playfully build an adaptation that is both “macro and micro,” universal but deeply personal, that sensitively but also satirically engages with how we, the human race, will or will not take care of each other in the face of resource scarcity. I am blessed to direct Matt’s beautiful play, written with the effortless nuance for which he is known.  

Obviously, this is not how any of us could have imagined this workshop production would look. We debated whether putting on a dystopian “comedy” about the end of the world during a global pandemic was appropriate. But we also thought, what better way to bring people back to the theater than with this story? The play asks what sacrifices we will make to survive an international humanitarian crisis as compassionate human beings. So here we are. In masks and silent disco headphones, so that you can safely see this performance and our actors can safely be seen and heard.

Who knows what the future will look like? All we can hope is that we can face it with the enduring generosity of spirit that brought you to the park today. That if we are able to let go of how things once were, we might be able to see how they could be. 

~Graham Miller

Word of mouth is key for theatre companies like us just starting out, which is why every follow is so important to spread the word about Refracted. If you haven’t already, follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and sign up for our newsletter (we promise we won’t spam your inbox).