“Critics Pick! An ingenious interactive show… a leap forward in storytelling and execution.”

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“Whether you are new to ‘The Cherry Orchard’ or have seen it a half-dozen times, this take is intriguing, absorbing. It left me wanting more…”

“This is the best virtual theater I’ve seen all pandemic. ”

“We immediately find ourselves in the thick of these existential questions, which become transparently relatable in this context. Certainly the pandemic is a lens through which we can instantly identify. ”

“A game of fate in Arlekin’s spellbinding ‘chekhovOS’”

“Mikhail Baryshnikov and Jessica Hecht lead a strong cast in Igor Golyak’s marriage of theater, film, and video game technology.”

An “audacious marriage of live theater, pre-recorded film segments, and video game technology.”

“…the scenes written 100 years ago reflect the same themes people are struggling with now: defining the parameters of their world; deciding what’s valuable and what they care about. But rather than place those conversations in a specific location, “chekhovOS” focuses on the emotions behind them.”

“Golyak’s version marries scenes from the play with projections, gaming techniques, actors both live and on film, to present an interactive experience for the viewers. ”

“What people really love is the element of engagement here. The design here is so special. They have this spinning wheel where they bring audience members up with pictures from Zoom, and you are suddenly in the show yourself. ”

“Under the visionary direction of Igor Golyak, the troupe largely succeeds — if not in forging an all-new namable form, at least in deploying several pre existing ones to create a memorable 75 minutes of theater. ”

“ChekhovOS draws a truly international audience and the ticket price ($0) makes it one of the most accessible professional theatrical productions on Earth. ”

“In other words, chekhovOS made me think. In fact, chekhovOS made most of the audience think, with an immediacy that I have never experienced in my interactions with any other form of art. If chekhovOS were a rock concert, this would have been the rowdiest of crowds, screaming, stomping, and setting the curtains on fire.”

“By giving the audience the means to discuss the art as it unfolded, the creators of chekhovOS may have very well pioneered a new form of interactive entertainment. ”

“This is an exquisitely innovative look at the inner lives and existential woes of some of drama’s most captivating characters.”

“Clearly as this second pandemic production by Arlekin Players Theatre demonstrates, the company is on a meteoric ascent in creating an entirely new, virtual platform for theater. ”

“chekhovOS is a brilliant foray into what’s to come in online entertainment.”

“It’s a communal effort that leads to a warm sense of community among the actors, designers, makers, and audience, an innovative and masterful approach to the myriad possibilities of live, hybrid theater in a post-pandemic world. ”

“Founder and director Igor Golyak’s vision was to combine film, live performance and gaming in his latest attempt to create a new theatrical form that could best serve a contemporary, global audience living through a pandemic. ”

“Technology has allowed him(the director) to bring the intimate, shared experience of theatre into homes around the world. It’s led to collaborations he and his company never thought possible. ”

“Nothing is as powerful as a great actor reciting powerful dialogue, as evidenced by Mikhail Baryshnikov reading letters Chekhov wrote while writing Cherry Orchard.”

“It’s (chekhovOS / an experimental game) also about how resilient people can be in the face of change. ……It offers an optimistic view of civilization, which is precisely what a comedy does. ”