From notes by ROBERT CHESTERMAN
Compiled by the Editorial Board Compiled

CBC's radio production of The Cherry Orchard was undertaken in September, 1979. The distinguished British Actress, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, was invited to play Madame Ranevskaya, partly because of her past association with the producer, Robert Chesterman, and the opportunity of her being in BC to visit her son, Nick Hutchinson, the founder of the Caravan Farm Theatre in Armstrong. The other characters were all played by Vancouver actors, most of whom were members of what was, in effect, a radio repertory company. Many of these actors had worked for the CBC from the late 1950's. Included were Dermot Hennelly, Peter Brockington, Lillian Carlson, Walter Marsh, Jimmy Johnston, Susan Chappell, Babara Poggemiller, Micki Maunsell, Derek Ralston, Sam Payne and Eric Schneider.

The arranger of the incidental music was the British composer Harrison Birtwistle. The text used was the adaptation by Jean-Claude Van Itallie. There was little changed in his final text when the program went to air. The music had to be pre-recorded in another studio prior to the actual drama production itself. This was undertaken with an ensemble of Vancouver musicians.

The length of time in the studio was 5 days, commencing with a four-hour readover. On the second and third days, because the production was in stereo, guided by the sound engineer Gerry Stanley, the placement of the actors' exits and entrances had to be planned across what is, in effect, a 'soundstage'. There is a similarity to a stage production in that the play is blocked. What is different is that the actor's projection is into a microphone and the intimacy required for a radio studio is different from that required in a theatre. By the fourth and fifth days, the actual recording began, usually in long complete Act sequences to retain continuity and dramatic flow. If any particular errors occurred they would be corrected by short inserts, but in general this was avoided due to the preferred desire for complete takes. Often a whole Act would be re-taped.