The Cherry Orchard

River Banks (Yepikhodov) is a second-year transfer student in the BFA Acting Program. His Theatre UCF Credits include Indecent (U/S Avram), As You Like It (U/S Dukes, ensemble), Home of the Brave (TY), Chicken and Biscuits (U/S Kenny, U/S Reginald). River is also involved in multiple clubs on campus such as Alpha Psi Omega, The Improv Academy, and Project Spotlight.

Colby Bell (Gayev) is excited to be in his second year as an Acting MFA student. His past performances for TheatreUCF include Brightstar (Jimmy Ray) and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Givola/Butcher). His most recent work came during the summer at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre in Massachusetts where he assistant directed Jesus Hopped the A-Train and The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged).

Jonathan Gardon (Firs) is a senior in the BFA Acting program. His previous Theatre UCF credits include Metamorphoses (Silenus/Phaeton/Eros/Etc), The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Young Dogsborough/Hook), The Interference (Teammate #1/Marketing Person), Indecent (US Lemml, US The Middle, and Much Ado About Nothing (Messenger/US Verges). He also holds a double minor in Political Science and English Literature.

Dani de Groot (Yasha) is a second-year transfer student in the BFA Acting Program. He is from the Netherlands. This is his Theatre UCF Debut. Some of his previous credits include The Laramie Project (John Peacock, Harry Wood, Andrew Gomez) and Up the Down Staircase (Lou Martin). @_danidegroot

Ana Gomez-Lugo (Dunyasha) is a first-year transfer in the BFA Acting program. Her previous UCF credits include, As You Like It (U/S Celia, Ensemble) and The Prom (U/S Kaylee & Shelby, Ensemble). She also is the historian for Alpha Psi Omega and is minoring in Computer Science. Instagram: @anaorbits

Paige Mason (Lyubov Andreyevna) is a second-year in the MFA Acting program. She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Coastal Carolina University. Theatre UCF Credits: As You Like It (Rosalind), The Prom (Dee Dee), The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui  (Flake/Prosecutor), Bright Star (Mama Murphy), Pegasus Playlab: Go Like Saints (Lydia). Tour: The Wizard of Oz (Wicked Witch). Regional: The King and I (Anna), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Millie), Shrek: The Musical (Fiona), Steel Magnolias (Shelby). paige-mason.com @paigliza.beth

Jake Perez (Ensemble, Vagrant, U/S Trofimov, U/S Yasha, U/S Yepikhodov) is a first-year transfer student in the BFA Acting Program. Theatre UCF: Chicken and Biscuits (Logan), Home of the Brave (Marcus), As You Like It (William/ U/S Touchstone). Professional Theatre: Exhibits in the Zoo (Mendel), Snoopy (Woodstock), All the Great Books (Abridged) (Student Teacher) Around the World in 80 Days (Ensemble).

Olamide Oladeji (Varya) is a second-year in the MFA Acting program. She was recently seen in Theatre UCF’s production of Chicken and Biscuits. Other theatre credits include Bite Me and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. Olamide received her Bachelor’s in Acting from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Jordan Perez (Lopakhin) is a third-year student in the BFA Acting program. He was most recently seen in UCF’s production of The Prom (Mr. Hawkins) and previously Bright Star (Jimmy Ray U/S, Ensemble). Other recent productions he has been in were the Orlando Shakes’ staged reading of Fairview (Jimbo) and UCF’s production of Fabulation or the Re-education of Undine (Herve, Guy). Some of his other credits include Charlotte’s Web (Wilbur U/S) and A Christmas Carol (Fred U/S) at the Orlando Shakes Theatre. @itsjordanperez

Gabriela Phillips (Ensemble, U/S Varya) is a third year student in the BFA Acting major. Previous credits include Theatre UCF’s Chicken and Biscuits (Brianna), Pegasus Playlab’s Race to Infinity (Lucia), and Orlando Shakes production of A Big Day for Baseball: A Magic Treehouse Adventure (U/S Olive). @gabyphillipss

Jacob Romeo (Simeonov-Pishchik) is a second-year candidate in the MFA Acting program. He was recently seen at Theatre UCF’s production of Metamorphoses, where he played Midas and others. He has appeared in other previous Theatre UCF shows, including The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui as Ignatius Dullfeet and ensemble. Some favorite roles include Bobby Strong in Urinetown, Victor in Playing with Fire and Chuck in She Kills Monsters at Cerea College, where he earned a B.A. in theatre.

Justin Joseph Rotolo (Ensemble, U/S Gayev, U/S Simeonov-Pishchik, U/S Firs) is a second-year transfer student in the BFA Acting program. He is the Secretary of APO and a BFA Acting Representative for the School of Performing Arts Student Advisory Board. Theatre UCF: Metamorphoses (U/S Midas and others, U/S Erysichthon and others), Bite Me (Nathan), and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Mulberry, U/S Old & Young Dogsborough, U/S Goodwill, U/S Fish). Florida Southern College: The Diary of Anne Frank (Peter, Co-Sound Designer), Stop Kiss (Peter), and Tom Jones (Actor #6). @Justinrotolo

Lauren Schulke (Charlotta) is currently in her second year in the MFA program at UCF. She holds a BFA from University of Minnesota Duluth and was most recently seen in UCF’s Metamorphoses (Vertumnus/Others) and Twelfth Night (Antonio) with New Generation Theatricals. Past Theatre UCF productions include Arturo Ui (Dockdaisy) and The Interference (Detective O'Dell/Others). laurenelizabethreed.com

Faviana Vázquez (Ensemble/ U/S Anya, U/S Charlotta, U/S Dunyasha) is a first-year transfer student in the BFA Acting Program. Theatre: Race to Infinity (Guadalupe/Mrs. Ramos), Shaken, On the Rocks (Evelyn), Family Business (Sammy), The Body (Abby). Film: Rule of Thirds (Liv), Potato Chips (Ensemble). Between rehearsals she is reading Emma by Jane Austen.

Taylor Bray (Production Stage Manager) is a third-year transfer student in the BFA Stage Management program. Their previous Theatre UCF credits include Chicken and Biscuits (ASM), UCF Celebrates the Arts 2023 (Company Manager), TECH-nique (Lighting Designer), Working (ASM) and The Wolves (Production Assistant). They also worked as an apprenticeship with the Glimmerglass Festival for the 2023 Season (Company Management).

Roberta Emerson (Director) is a Director, Actor, Producer, and Educator, and is the Director of New Play Development at Orlando Shakes. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a BFA in Acting and Theatre Management and New York University with an MFA in Acting. She has worked as an actor and director in many regional theaters around the country, has done extensive voice-over, commercial, and film work, and has been a teaching artist in both the US and Europe. Recent directing credits include Unnecessary Farce, Beheading Columbus, Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too, August Wilson), A Raisin in the Sun, and Beauty and the Beast. Her production of Beauty and the Beast gained national acclaim and recognition from Disney Theatricals for its use of color-conscious and identity-conscious casting. Ms. Emerson is also a Co-organizer and Theatre Relations Lead for Central Florida Entertainment Advocacy whose mission is to create a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive arts and entertainment community in Central Florida. She is also on the Board of The Arts Bridge Charity, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing relief to struggling artists, and Associate Artistic Consultant and IDEA lead for CFCARTS, as well as serving on the Board of the National New Play Network. Roberta also serves as the Co-Chair of the IDEA committee for the Shakespeare Theatre Association and a Show Director for Disney Live Entertainment.

Olivia Perez (Assistant Stage Manager) aspires to be a part of the Walt Disney World Company as an entertainment manager. She has worked as a Production Stage Manager for With Love Production on Lin-Manual Miranda’s In the Heights, which taught her to keep a level head in an ever-changing environment. She has also worked as a Production Assistant and Assistant Stage Manager with The Orlando Family Stage. While still maintaining the integrity of the show.

Bridgett Rojas (Assistant Stage Manager) is in her final semester of the BFA Stage Management program. Her previous Theatre UCF credits include Chicken and Biscuits (Production Stage Manager), Bright Star (Assistant Stage Manager), Working (Assistant Stage Manager), Spells of the Sea (Assistant Stage Manager), Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine (Production Assistant) and Orlando Stage’s Youth Academy: Magic Treehouse: A Ghost Tale for Mr. Dickens Jr. (Production Assistant). @_xxbridgettxx_ ZX

Faith Silvers (show crew) is a senior in the B.A. Film program. This is her Theatre UCF debut.

Hannah Silverstien (Production Assistant) is a first-year transfer in the BFA Stage Management program. This is her first production on a stage management team, but she has previously been Q-lab operator for Theatre UCF’s production of The Prom and Deck Crew for Theatre UCF’s production of Metamorphoses. @HannahMichelle_

Carianne Tummino (Production Assistant) is a first-year transfer in the BFA Stage Management program. This is her second Theatre UCF production, with her first production being The Prom as the fly/rail operator.

Months before his death in 1904, Anton Chekhov wrote arguably his most famous play, The Cherry Orchard. The play takes place in Russia at the turn of the twentieth-century and follows an aristocratic Russian family who find themselves in a changing world, one which threatens to leave them behind. It is in this context – Russia on the brink of a social revolution – that the story unfolds. As an audience, we get to see these characters grow and adapt (or not) to their changing situations.

One of the most poignant questions that our director Roberta Emerson asked in the rehearsal room was: what is it like to live in a world of privilege? There are characters in The Cherry Orchard who have lived a life of inherited fortune, those who have spent their entire lives as servants, and still others who are part of a burgeoning middle class. What's interesting is seeing those characters interact and exist in the same space: in this case, an estate on a cherry orchard. In our production, it was immensely important for our director to represent people who live without privilege, allowing them to see themselves represented in timeless characters who hold power in their own contexts.

It is these themes of representation, change, and privilege that ground our production of The Cherry Orchard in a contemporary moment. We wanted to explore how the blatant injustices and everyday disquietudes of revolutionary Russia resonate in an American context of social inequality and class struggle. We know that change is hard and that adapting to a new world is incredibly scary, but we also believe that change is inevitable. We challenge you to reflect on how the characters in our production of The Cherry Orchard hit close to home.

- Jake Haugland