Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard in Bangladesh:

A Study of the Cultural Implications of Dramatic Adaptation

Abstract

Foreign texts can be adapted by modifying the cultural specifics of the original to that of the target society to ensure a wider reach. The selection process of the foreign texts to a large extent is determined by the size of the theater group, the expertise of the actors, the group members’ efficiency in using standard Bangla, and the level of cultural sophistication of the audience. Amongst all the foreign writers/playwrights, we have selected Chekhov’s representation in Bangladeshi theater as our focus in this article. We are focusing on the adapted version of The Cherry Orchard produced by a theater group in Bangladesh and have tried to explore the transformation of the original text in terms of contextualization. While doing this, we used reception theory and Gramsci’s theater criticism.