Closing Performances: Mrs. Klein and The Cherry Orchard

Uta wrote to a friend— ‍

On the closing performance [of Mrs. Klein in San Francisco], I remarked that it was similar to the closing of The Cherry Orchard during which I finally knew how to say goodbye to my orchard — and was furious that I wouldn’t get a chance to do it again. In the last “Mrs. K.” ... I’d finally convinced playwright and author Nicholas Wright to cut the endless speech down to “She was my first-born, you know. I expected a boy — when I saw her, I gave her my name, little Melanie ... Melitta.”

I still didn’t know how to send it. I now took it as an impulsive idea, that even surprised me, and “I gave her my name” was wondrous and as though it was the only thing I had to give her!

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