Marc Ewing, Ellen Geer Photo by Miriam Geer

Anton Chekov's unlikely play, The Cherry Orchard, has earned its keep as part of the canon of international theater. Orchard has been translated into a multitude of languages, and productions have been staged around the globe. What's more, the show has been directed by an array of auteurs over its ten and a half decades of existence - including Charles Laughton, Peter Brook, Jean-Louis Barrault, and Tyrone Guthrie.

However, The Cherry Orchard's first director was the legendary Russian acting teacher Constantin Stanislavski. Initially put on-the-boards at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1904, Stanislavski interpreted Chekov's conceit as a tragedy, whereas the playwright thought of it as a comedy. Replete with re-writes and misunderstandings, as well as being sorely under rehearsed, Chekov figured that Stanislavski had "ruined" his play upon its debut. To this day, directors are challenged to find the appropriate balance between Chekov's intention and Stanislavski's original direction of Orchard.

Now Ellen Geer and Heidi Helen Davis have taken it upon themselves to "freely" adapt Chekov's Cherry Orchard, setting it in the state of Virginia, in the year 1970, and staging it at the verdant outdoor theater known as The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, in Topanga Canyon, through September 26.

But H.H. Davis' ill-paced direction makes it difficult to connect with Chekov's story, while Ellen Geer's flighty and falsetto-pitched characterization of Lillian Randolph Cunningham (in Chekov's draft the character is called Liubov Andreyevna Ranevsky) is over-acted, off-putting, and an couple of octaves above reality.

Nevertheless, this survey of changing Russian values at the turn into the 20^th century does translate well to the venue and era of Richard Nixon's so-called Southern Strategy. Former serfs from Chekov's milieu are, in this re-imaging, descendents of slaves. The bourgeoisie class of tsarist Russia is updated to represent what remains of the American South's aristocracy.

Lady Lillian, upon her return from a five-year respite in France, is starkly informed by local businessman Lawrence Poole (named Lopakin in Chekov's version and played here with convincing intensity by Steve Matt) that the estate, cherry orchard and all, would be most beneficial if it were sold and (in-sync with the ethos of the 70s) subdivided into strip mall-like parcels.

Lillian's inability to address the issues surrounding her property and her complex family portend the loss of nearly everything her forbearers built and stood for over the generations, as well as her own fecundity. But as we anticipate the last gasps of southern values and confederate mores (in Chekov's scenario it was the death of feudalism and the declining reign of the tsars), we also encounter a bevy of peculiar people.

There's Lillian's socially impudent brother, Gates Randolph (Lionid Gayev as penned by Chekov, and nicely underplayed by William Dennis Hunt). Also, there's Lillian's grown daughter, Anna Cunningham (a melancholy portrayal by Willow Geer), and an adopted daughter, Velina (Varya according to Chekov's text and played here effectively and solemnly by Tippi Thomas), adding to the simmering theatrical alchemy of the play. Moreover, there are several sycophants and hangers-on who have attached themselves to the Cunningham/ Randolph estate - including the self-serving Buck Yankins (originally called Yasha, and crisply interpreted by Matt Van Winkle), and the bumbling Yancy Ogelsby (Tyler Rhoades reconfiguring Chekov's character, the simple Simon Yephikodov).

The Cherry Orchard endures as a metaphor of change. Societies transform and evolve as do families over the ages. Nevertheless, good theater provides us with a time-capsule. We can travel the epochs of history through the dramatic arts. Chekov's Cherry Orchard allows us to tour the mind-frames and emotions of an earlier period, gleaning not only an understanding of the past, but also discovering that the essentials of humanity are not so different now in the present day. Davis and Geer's tweaking of Chekov's theatrical themes proves the point, even if the production is imperfect.

"The Cherry Orchard" continues at The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum - 1419 Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Topanga Canyon - through September 26. Performances are on Saturday at 8 p.m. August 22 and September 26, continuing on Sundays at 7:30 p.m. August 30 and September 20. For reservations, dial (310) 455 – 3723. For online ticketing and more details visit www.theatricum.com