For a play written more than 120 years ago, Uncle Vanya has well and truly passed the test of time. It’s a story about family angst when resentment festers over money and misguided loyalty. Written by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov in 1897 and staged by the Moscow Art Theatre two years later, it was updated to fit 1950s rural life in Russia, and while staying true to the original, this adaptation by Joanna Murray-Smith at the Ensemble Theatre uses more contemporary language to create a sharp, slick two hours, and a satisfying balance between underlying desperation and snippets of humour.
The story centres around Uncle Vanya (Yalin Ozucelik) and his niece Sonya (Abbey Morgan), the caretakers of the crumbling family estate for Professor Serebryakov (David Lynch), Sonia’s father by his first wife and Vanya’s brother-in-law. The niece and her uncle have dedicated years of their lives to the upkeep of the dilapidated farm, only to have the profits syphoned off by the Professor. It’s a dreary, lonely existence, brightened only with the occasional visit from overworked and maudlin country doctor, Astrov (Tm Walter). That is until the arrival of the Professor and his much younger glamourous second wife Yelena (Chantelle Jamieson).
It gets messy, very messy, when dramas of the heart emerge and we discover almost everyone is in love with the wrong person. Sonya is hopelessly in love with Astrov, who is hopelessly in love with Yelena who returns his affection in fits and starts. Toss a smitten Vanya into the mix, he’s loved Yelena forever, and his heart is crushed when he busts her kissing Astrov.
The only one unaware of this complicated loved-up foursome is Serebryakov, largely because he’s too busy loving himself. A pompous, narcissistic, bully, he causes chaos when he announces the estate will be sold to fund his future.
Director Mark Kilmurry has put together a superb cast. Lynch is magnificent when he erupts, ( I thought the Professor was going to blow a gasket); Ozucelik’s bitterness over Vanya’s perceived lost opportunities, all his shoulda/woulda/couldas, is sadly confronting; Morgan as the compliant, pining Sonya, is nonetheless stoic and resigned to her colourless lot in life; and Jamieson, the idle and smouldering Yelena, is effortlessly bewitching.
In minor, yet compelling roles, Vanessa Downing plays dual characters as Vanya’s social advocate mother and the Nanny, while John Gaden as Waffles, an elderly impoverished landowner working on the estate, is delightfully inappropriate with his interjections and hilarious tales of his pathetic love-life.
Nick Fry’s set of wood flooring and panelling – intricate with detail in every nook and cranny – is exquisite, inviting you to settle with ease into the discussions over the kitchen table, and from fading light to cracking storms, Matt Cox nails it with the lighting.
As the Vodka flows, tempers rise and hearts break, but this isn’t Hollywood. There’s no ending neatly sewn up with kisses and blossoming love. It’s raw, emotional and combative, a timeless story of family conflict.
Ensemble Theatre
78 McDougall St Kirribilli
Until August 31
2 hours 20 minutes (including interval)
Boxoffice.ensemble.com.au
