Written by Christopher Durang
Lincoln Center Theater (sic) Online at Broadway on Demand until 11 April 2021
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars: ***1/2
This review published only on this blog. KH
L-R: Sonia- Kristine Nielsen , Masha- Sigourney Weaver & Vanya - David Hyde Pierce
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, by Christopher Durang, is a parody of Anton Chekhov’s style, incorporating versions of characters from various Chekhov plays into a modern, American setting.
The play is a partially successful comedy about regret and missed opportunities that scatters existential commentary amidst broad farce. It feels like a sketch that has been stretch to a full-length play.
Quiet, forbearing, middle-aged Vanya (David Hyde Pierce) and his plain, ‘sensitive, tedious’ adopted sister, Sonia, (Kristine Nielsen) sit on their patio sharing coffee and complaints, waiting for the arrival of their famous, movie star sister, Masha (Sigourney Weaver). She arrives in a whirl of exuberance and narcissism, with her muscular but idiotic toy boy, Spike (Billy Magnussen), in tow.
Masha left Vanya and Sonia to care for their ailing, ageing parents and now she plans to sell the family home, leaving the two hapless siblings homeless.
Durang’s script is written in heightened, comic dialogue with very broad, cartoonish characters, but it might be more effective if the actors were not directed to play almost every line at a fever pitch of parody. Playing it in a more naturalistic, Chekhovian style would give the actors and their dialogue more room to breathe and allow the comedy some space.
Fortunately, the inimitable Hyde Pierce performs most of the play with superb understatement, avoiding emphasising every joke. He is the still point in this rather hysterical production. His Vanya’s frenetic, nostalgic rant/monologue about the past (1950s, licking stamps, rotary dial telephones) is a highlight. This is not only because it is in direct counterpoint to Vanya’s usual behaviour, but because the content is a delicious critique of the 21st century.
The characters’ dialogue is a sort of naval-gazing self-narration of their weary lives. Vanya says, ‘I’m worried about the future and I miss the past.’ Like Chekhov’s characters, their chatter is riddled with non sequiturs, trivialities and witticisms, such as, ‘If everyone took anti-depressants Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.’
Despite the exhausting, hysterical edge of this stage production, it is a delight to see such skilful actors on stage, particularly when the tone and pace change during the introspective monologues by the three main characters, Vanya, Sonia, and Masha.
by Kate Herbert
Director Nicholas Martin
Cast:
Vanya - David Hyde Pierce
Sonia- Kristine Nielsen
Masha- Sigourney Weaver
Nina- Genevieve Angelson
Casandra -Shalita Grant
Spike – Billy Magnussen
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