VANYA To 26 September.

London.

VANYA
by Sam Holcroft inspired by Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya.

Gate Theatre To 26 September 2009.
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat 19, 26 Sept 3pm.
Captioned 25 Sept.
Post-show discussion 8, 17 Sept.
Runs 1hr 25min No interval.

TICKETS: 029 7229 0706.
www.gatetheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 5 September.

Brilliantly revealing Chekhov’s human cargo.
Don’t cancel the Uncle Vanya tickets. But the Gate’s production casts a fascinating new light on Anton Chekhov’s play. If it means most to those who know the original, that still leaves Sam Holcroft’s new piece a large audience – Chekhov’s major works seem to crop up more these days than any classics outside A Doll’s House and the popular Shakespeares.

Holcroft, with director Natalie Ibrahami, designer Tom Scutt and the four-strong cast capture Chekhov’s world through opposites, with everything integrating so tightly it’s hard attributing success between writing, production and acting.

Chekhov expands his scenes through servants, family, neighbours, with interiors and exteriors, while Holcroft concentrates on two pairs of characters, flickering in and out of a near-abstract space, a home reduced to a single-room shack, a packing case for Fragile lives within. There’s no sense of place, let alone any comfort to Scutt’s slowly-revolving room with its ungainly apertures. The person who seems most settled is Doctor Astrov, the visitor.

Mark Howland’s constant glare of lighting whites-out Chekhov’s contrast of hot days, evenings and candle-illuminated night-rooms. A diet of silence, chat and anger becomes a frequent near muttering of uncertainty and fear of being overheard.

Astrov discourses on society, and shows Yelena how to give an injection with the quiet confidence of someone who knows others listen to him; seen here only from chest-height up, Simon Wilson’s doctor seems over-endowed with self-assurance, while Susie Trayling’s Yelena perpetually carries the tension of an unhappy wife.

They are the winners in sexual magnetism, but the losers have their own sympathy. Robert Goodale’s Vanya, bent-over or skulking about the place, knows his shortcomings while Fiona Button’s bright-eyed and eager Sonya is remarkable. Too guileless and open to exude mystery or attract attention, she not only has a rare understanding but is no DIY slouch either. Chekhov’s Sonya is last seen philosophising and doing the accounts by candlelight; Holcroft’s is first seen in full light refurbishing the place; she packs a mean power-drill from the start. It points-up the contrast and the sympathetic, illuminating commentary this quite remarkable new piece provides to Chekhov.

Sonya: Fiona Button.
Vanya: Robert Goodale.
Yelena: Susie Trayling.
Astrov: Simon Wilson.

Director: Natalie Abrahami.
Designer: Tom Scutt.
Lighting: Mark Howland.
Sound: Carolyn Downing.
Assistant director: Natasha Nixon.
Assistant designer: Verity Sadler.
Assistant sound: Peter Eltringham.

2009-09-10 23:26:20