Vanya *** TNT
Although there are only four characters in Sam Holcroft’s stripped-down, 90-minute chamber piece inspired by (and sticking close to) Chekhov’s classic Uncle Vanya, the unseen presence of a fifth is the glue which brings them unhappily together. He is Sonya’s father, Vanya’s successful brother-in-law, Yelena’s elderly husband (she’s his second, much younger wife) and doctor Astrov’s ailing patient – and the demands of his ill health have turned the household insomniac and miserable.
As Tom Scutt’s giant plywood packing case set (a rotating room-size cube marked “fragile”) is opened up to reveal the dissatisfaction within, Holcroft explores the nature of love and attraction. She is hardest on the men who have all fallen under the spell of Yelena’s decorative beauty.
Robert Goodale’s Vanya has turned into a useless drunk who does nothing but pursue her and bemoan wasted opportunities, whilst Simon Wilson’s hypocritical Astrov relentlessly spouts high-flown idealism to a rapt Sonya.
Director Natalie Abrahami racks up the sexual tension as he teaches Yelena how to administer morphine and it’s obvious that (for all her deeper, selfless qualities) Fiona Button’s love-struck Sonya just hasn’t got a chance.
And, as the walls fold in on themselves once more, these sad characters with their dashed hopes are condemned to go on just as before in this thoughtful, probing version.
Gate, Pembridge Rd W11 3HQ (020 7229 0706) Tube: Notting Hill Gate. Until Sep 26. £16 (offers available if you live in the borough)
No comments:
Post a Comment