Bonnie Greer OBE, the award winning American and British playwright has brought her latest production, The Hotel Cerise, to Stratford East Theatre. The production, which opened last night, is a contemporary redrawing of the 1904 play, The Cherry Orchard, by Anton Chekov. Greer’s Hotel Cerise is a haven and beloved hangout for the African American middle classes during segregation, but now as America’s first black president prepares to stand down, owner Anita Mountjoy fears losing her family business. Set on her family’s cherry orchard the Hotel Cerise once hosted Martin Luther King and heard Miles Davis play but now the question becomes “Are the family keepers of this proud history, or simply trapped by its ghosts? Can ‘the audacity of hope’ survive?”
The Hotel Cerise By Bonnie Greer Inspired by Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard Thu 20th Oct – Sat 12th Nov 2016
We expect a stellar performance from Ellen Thomas who stars as Anita, and a tale woven with historical and contemporary trials.
On now at Stratford East Theatre until November 12th. Get your tickets or find out more, at stratfordeast.com
