There is still a cherry orchard in this Chekhov adaptation – only it is now attached to a rickety starship that’s travelling through space. The fading but formidable Ranyevskaya has become Captain Ramesh (Anjali Jay), with the other character names also changed to reflect a brilliant cast of south Asian heritage. There’s talk of cartographers and cloning, meteorite crashes and system breakdowns, and one of the parlour maids has become a mammoth AI system, brought to life with some wonderfully playful work from sound designer Max Pappenheim, designer Rosie Elnile and actor Chandrika Chevli.
All this might sound a bit gimmicky but Vinay Patel’s version is thoughtful, funny and suffused with romance and yearning. In one of the most striking scenes, Anju (Samar Khan) feels sunlight on her face for the first time, as she tentatively talks of a new and different future with Talwar (Gavi Singh Chera). Lighting designer Jai Morjaria lets in a sliver of golden light and, for a moment, love paints the world anew.
