English and Drama students  are attending a showing of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard at DeSales University. The play, the last by Anton Chekhov, is about Russia’s bourgeoisie at the end of the 19th century. An upper class family struggles to repay debts and keep their estate, which a rich former serf wants to purchase.

Many students that attended the showing of The Cherry Orchard had a positive opinion of the production and performances. “It was pretty awesome,” says Sophomore Gino Santonastaso, “I had thought they were all graduates but I looked in the pamphlet and saw that they were all freshmen and sophomores.” Alyssa Zerbe, a Junior at Pine Grove, says, “It had great comedic timing, something I didn’t expect. And I think they developed the story and tragedy of it well.”

DeSales University has a wide array of performing arts programs. DeSales’ Division of Performing Arts offers programs such as Dance, Dramatic Literature, Music, Theatre, and Film which all frequently work together. For example, Theatre students frequently star in films done by students taking the Film class. Their company, Act 1 Productions, produces professional-level stage productions that are performed by students. The Division of Performing Arts was “founded on the belief that the role of the artist is to give beauty back to the world.”