La Cerisaie

“Isabelle Adjani, Eric Ruf, Anton Chekhov... being on stage with them is one of the greatest gifts of my career” Jacques Weber

Some encounters feel inevitable. Others belong to history.

For the first time, Isabelle Adjani and Jacques Weber meet on stage in one of the masterworks of the repertoire: La Cerisaie (The Cherry Orchard) by Anton Chekhov.

Directed by Eric Ruf, General Administrator of the Comédie-Française for eleven years, this marks his first production since the critical and popular triumph of Le Soulier de satin in 2024. Surrounded by his regular creative team, including Christian Lacroix for costumes, he gathers a company that shares his love for classic texts.

As the Russian Empire stands on the brink of collapse, Chekhov's testamentary work recounts the end of an era: that of a family of landowners forced to sell their estate, and along with it, the echo of the lives that inhabited it. While the cherry trees are doomed to the axe, each tries to cling to what is already slipping away: childhood, loves, illusions, memories.

In this twilight song where laughter mingles with tears, Lyubov Andreyevna, a ruined aristocrat returned from France (played by Isabelle Adjani), reunites with her brother Gaev (played by Jacques Weber), a bear of boundless tenderness, just as oblivious as she is to the gravity of their plight.

“Every theatre is a potential cherry orchard; people have performed there for ages with childlike innocence, spending their lives there,” says Eric Ruf. “Every actor or actress's career is a voyage where the stage is often both the horizon and the homecoming. Knowing that Isabelle Adjani, Jacques Weber, and the gifted troupe gathered around this legendary pair will bring their suitcases and the burning illusions of their characters is a dream.”