A reimagining of Chekhov's classic 'The Cherry Orchard' bears fruit

This is a photo from the play The Orchard. It is winter. The stage is bathed in blue light. Six people are outside in what appears to be a park filled with park benches. They are laughing and look joyous. In the background is a large robotic arm that looks like a huge telescope — OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Jared Bowen is the Emmy award-winning Executive Arts Editor and host of The Culture Show, a daily radio program and podcast at GBH exploring the creative process through a lively mix of local and national artist profiles, performances and exhibitions.

Molly McCaul is an Associate Producer for the GBH News arts and culture team. A lifelong Massachusetts resident, they are passionate about local and live music in Boston and beyond. You can reach them at molly_mccaul@wgbh.org.

November 10, 2022

Each week, GBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen joins Morning Edition to share his highlights of what's new in Boston's arts and culture; this week's picks include everything from theater to photography to a new museum dedicated to Boston's music history.

"The Orchard"

Now playing at the Emerson Paramount Center through November 13 and online

Visionary director Igor Golyak is the force behind this production based on Chekhov’s "The Cherry Orchard," starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Jessica Hecht. The story is an “abstract” take on the original, which follows the Russian aristocracy as they cope with losing their family estate and home.

In addition to its stage production here in Boston, there is also an online streaming option for "The Orchard" that aims to be as immersive as the in-person performances. Present centerstage throughout "The Orchard" is a large robotic arm; as Bowen describes, the arm “becomes a semblance of the stage and the character of the family in the home here. But it’s also for people who are watching the show virtually. It’s carrying the story forward with them.”

This image is from the production The Orchard. The stage is bathed in blue light. A woman lies on a park bench, it is winter and the street is covered in snow. A man stands to her left, holding a cane, he leans on it and looks at the woman with an expression of concern and distress

"Arnie Jarmak: Photographing Chelsea in Transition, 1977-89"

On view at the McMullen Museum of Art through December 4

Arnie Jarmak worked for The Chelsea Record from 1977 to 1989 as a photographer who “had moved into Chelsea but quickly became a fiber of the community.” Working during a time of incredible change, Jarmak witnessed the opening of the Tobin Bridge and the consequent splintering of the Chelsea community, as well as a period of frequent fires across the city. Jarmak utilized both landscape and portrait photography to extensively document both the large-scale changes in Chelsea of the 1970s and 1980s and the people who were impacted by them.

Jarmak’s connection to the Chelsea community is evident in his work. As Bowen points out, the photographs are by someone who “spends time in a community, you’re not just dropping in, you’re not just parachuting in and trying to take quick snapshots to move on. ... He was somebody who wanted to make this image of the community to capture it.”

A black and white historical photograph of people gathered outside of a storefront in Chelsea Massachusetts. Signs in the background read "RESTAURANT," "B.D'S STORES," and "SHOE SHELF" alongside a Coca-Cola sign. There is snow on the ground — "Getting the 'Record' in the Square" is part of Arnie Jarmak's work documenting Chelsea's growth as shown at the McMullen Museum of Art

Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame

On view at the Boch Center

While Boston isn’t home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it is now home to the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame (FARHOF) at the Boch Center. Boch Center CEO Joe Spaulding spearheaded the development of the museum, starting just before the pandemic. Now, the museum is housed on the third floor gallery of the Wang Center.

Titled “Boston: A Music Town,” the exhibit was curated by experts who have also worked on the Springsteen archives and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. FARHOF features “an assemblage of materials that really tell Boston’s story in music history from Pete Seeger’s banjo and hat to Keith Lockhart’s running shoes to Grammy nomination certificates from our great jazz stars like Terri Lyne Carrington.”