The Cherry Orchard begins performances tonight

The Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard begins previews at the American Airlines Theatre tonight. An official opening is scheduled for 16 October, with a limited engagement through to 4 December 2016.

This new production of The Cherry Orchard is adapted by Tony Award winner Stephen Karam ('The Humans'), and directed by Simon Godwin.

Described as Anton Chekhov's "masterpiece about a family on the edge of ruin-and a country on the brink of revolution", the play follows Lyubov Ranevskaya and her family's return to their fabled orchard to forestall its foreclosure. It captures a people-and a world-in transition, and presents us with a picture of humanity in all its glorious folly.

The cast of The Cherry Orchard includes Diane Lane (Ranevskaya), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Varya), Joel Grey (Firs), Tavi Gevinson (Anya), John Glover (Gaev), Chuck Cooper (Pischik), and Harold Perrineau (Lopakhin), with Tina Benko, Susannah Flood, Maurice Jones, Quinn Mattfeld, Aaron Clifton Moten, Peter Bradbury, Philip Kerr, Lise Bruneau, Jacqueline Jarrold, Ian Lassiter and Carl Hendrick Louis.

The production features scenic design by Scott Pask, costume design by Michael Krass, lighting design by Donald Holder, sound design by Christopher Cronin, movement by Jonathan Goddard and original music by Nico Muhly.

Diane Lane made her Broadway debut as a child actor in the 1977 revival of 'The Cherry Orchard.' She also appeared in the Broadway revival of 'Agamemnon' that same year. Off-Broadway she appeared as Jackie in 'Runaways' at the Public Theater in 1978 and more recently as Lucinda at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater in 2015. On screen, she is known for her role as Martha Kent in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," and "Man of Steel," as well as roles in "Trumbo," "Every Secret Thing," "Jumper," "Unfaithful," "The Perfect Storm," "Untraceable," "Chaplin," and many more.

- by Tom Millward