Anton Chekhov is reported to have been very disturbed that the comedies he wrote were played as intense dramas.
The plot of his play, “Uncle Vanya,” is about middle-aged and elderly people who live harsh isolated lives. Plus, it includes a couple of situations of unrequited love. With this in mind, it’s difficult to imagine “Uncle Vanya” being a hilarious night of theater.
Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, where the play runs through Sunday, found some laughs at the preview performance I attended, but this intense production is not a comedy. Actually. it’s more like immersive theater. The very effectively designed space by Carmen Borgia makes it feel remarkably intimate.
Indeed, this classic theater piece playing in rural Catskill is a wonderful metaphor for the play’s themes of isolation and the effect it has on the minds and souls of various individuals. This makes it
a wonderful post-COVID play. Ironically, Catskill is a village undergoing an artistic resurgence since so many who moved here did so to avoid COVID. They came seeking isolation.
Because of its urban expatriate population, it’s an ideal place to put on a play that has an environmental message about man’s insensitivity to the planet on which we live. Politically, it predicts the rise of Capitalism where profit is the arbiter of morality. “Uncle Vanya,” which had it first production in Russia in 1899, shows how life and art are always connected.
This adaptation by Irish playwright Conor McPherson is faithful to Chekhov as it focuses on failed dreams and harsh reality. This is a production in which you appreciate all the good in the writing, the acting, the staging and the play’s relevance to today. You leave the theater thinking about the plight of individuals who have devoted their lives and sacrificed their futures to something they believe is unworthy of their skills and potential.
Most of the dramatic intensity comes from the male characters in the show. Steven Patterson plays Vanya as a bitter, passive-aggressive individual. It’s a legitimate and intriguing interpretation, but it deprives the character of the audience’s empathy. Indeed, Patterson’s finest moment is in his confrontation with the professor when for the first time he speaks as a wronged man striking out with defiance rather than self-pity.
The power of Patterson’s interpretation is that it plants a seed of doubt as to whether Vanya is really a martyr or is he, as described by the townspeople, an ingrate and a freeloader. However, this conceit is hindered by the bellowing portrayal of the professor by Mike Durkin. He plays the selfish man one-dimensionally, supporting Vanya’s vision of him.
In the very important role of Doctor Astrov, Richard Neil displays his passion for Chekhov’s ahead-of-its-time environmental concerns with intensity and clarity. Too, we understand why the character is greatly longed for by the two younger women. But yet, Astrov doesn’t come across as a man who has greatness within him. Neil’s always dark, paused-filled delivery makes him appear a navel-gazer rather than a tortured genius.
Oddly, despite the three portrayals being valid interpretations, their effect is to point out the flaws within the men, not the tragedy of good men being powerless in a world on the cusp of change. If you believe Chekhov and McPherson's goal is to show that man’s humanity is judged on how well one responds to adversity, then the three fail the test.
In this effort it is the women who endure. In McPherson’s adaptation, the women fare better than the men as characters worthy of compassion. Abby Burris is gentle and wonderful as Sonya, Vanya’s niece and the professor’s daughter by his first wife. Her devotion to her uncle and her unacknowledged love for the doctor make her the most tragic character in the play. Burris’ work makes you think the play could be titled “Niece Sonya.”
Sarah Jayne Rothkopf is captivating as Yelena, the professor’s new and much younger glamorous wife. She follows last year’s sterling performance in “The Glass Menagerie” with a smart portrayal of a decent woman whose sexual power inadvertently causes conflict.
Eileen Schuyler, in the small role of the compassionate, realistic Nana is terrific. She is the actor who most understands the comic potential in the material. Though not age appropriate for the role of Vanya’s mother, Renee Hewitt has some excellent moments as a woman who rigidly concedes to custom and authority. Eamon Martin as the dimwitted handyman Waffle is fine in a role that could be eliminated without significant loss.
This is, arguably, not a perfect production. But, for many reasons, it is one of the more memorable versions of “Uncle Vanya” I have seen. It’s a very personal rendering that should be experienced. It continues through Sunday. For tickets and information go to bridgestreettheatre.org
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
