"A little vodka? . . . "
Written: May 20 '00 (Updated May 24 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Wonderfully performed by all the actors, stunning set and costumes, a wonderful experience
Cons: The theatre lacks sound-proofing... outside noises ruin the mood of the play.
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| sarahgutch's Full Review: Uncle Vanya |
Sir Derek Jacobi is by far one of the finest actors I've ever watched on the big or little screen. When I learned that I might have a chance to see "Brother Cadfael" in person, well, I made it pretty clear that we were going! I got my husband on the phone, credit card in hand, and before the night was out, the tickets were "in the mail."
The next time I was in a bookstore, I picked up a copy of Uncle Vanya. I had read some Chekhov as part of the Western Literature course I had taken at college twenty-something years before, but not this play. Interesting--Uncle Vanya was on Broadway 10 years or so ago, starring Christopher Walken and Lindsay Crouse. Louis Malle also made a movie about the production, titled "Vanya on 42nd Street," the stars including Julianne Moore and William Shawn.
Back to actually reading the play, it took a couple of pages to sort out the names, but by the end of reading, I was wondering how great this play was going to be. A synopsis at playbill.com describes Chekhov's drama as "a mixture of farce and anguish, hopeless infatuations, old grudges and ironic humor. Uncle Vanya and his niece, Sonya, have spent their lives caring for the country estate of a writer they regard as a great man. But when it becomes apparent, during one of the writer's infrequent visits, that he's really a failure and a nobody, Uncle Vanya and his niece painfully awaken to the fact that their lives have been wasted." I had a little trouble relating to these characters of 19th Century Russia. What's a samovar?
I had printed out the pages from the website for Roundabout Theatre, but the other names didn't register in my mind. It wasn't until we had found our seats in the Brooks-Atkinson Theatre, Playbills in hand, that I realized what a star-studded cast was about to take the stage!
The curtain went up and there was Roger Rees, as Astrov, Mikhail Lvovich, the doctor, sprawled on a lawn chair. I leaned toward my husband, "...isn't that Robin Colcourt from Cheers?" There. Shows how high-brow I am. Yes, it's Roger Rees, also known as the star of Nicholas Nickelby, and the teacher who got fired for encouraging free-thinking in "My So Called Life," and who has shown up lately in several renditions of Shakespeare on the big screen.
Laura Linney was also instantly recognizable as Jim Carrey's wife in The Truman Show. Brian Murray, Rita Gam, David Patrick Kelly, Anne Pitoniak, and Amy Ryan, as Sonya, (nominated this year for the Tony Award: Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play) are all well-known on stage, television and screen.
As the play unfolded, the characters appeared on stage, all very three-dimensional and all my doubts flew out the window.
Roger Rees was perfect, comically charming, intelligent and a lovable, idealistic naturalist, the perfect argument to the dawning of the industrial age. Did I mention he was adorable?
Derek Jacobi was more than perfect, endearing yet on the edge of rage--at the beauty which will not acknowledge his love, at a society that takes so much for granted from the "peasant" work force and never gives even an inkling of acknowledgment to their existence as human beings. His acting was bright, engaging, riveting.
Both Rees and Jacobi both took turns playing realistic drunks. I could almost smell the vodka from the balcony.
Tony Walton, the Set and Costume Designer, created a beautiful stage for this play. The garden area with veranda and swing, the warm interiors, all back-dropped by the beautiful trees. Oh... by the way, a samovar is a very tall, silver or otherwise fancy urn with a burner underneath and a little faucet near the bottom, its main purpose being to boil water.
This is my only complaint: the theatre is in desperate need of sound-proofing. Bus horns, sirens and other street noises drifted in to the pastoral setting, which really ruined the mood in some of the scenes.
The play's in limited engagement, so now is the time to try to get tickets. It will be a performance you'll remember for a long, long time.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
sarahgutch
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Member: Abbie Slaman
Location: NJ
Reviews written: 42
Trusted by: 22 members
About Me:
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? --Nick Lowe
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