: (L-R) Ksenya Rappopport (as Elena) Elena Kalinina (as Sonia) in 'Uncle Vanya' by the Maly Drama Theatre of St. Petersburg, in a short run at the BAM Harvey Theater. (Richard Termine)
It was Horace Walpole who said that the world is a comedy to those who think and a tragedy to those who feel. This quote neatly indexes the mind of Anton Chekhov, who was both a thinking and a feeling man. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of his birth, the Maly Drama Theatre of St. Petersburg breezed into the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theatre (April 7-11) with a new production of Uncle Vanya. Performed in Russian with English titles, it was a rare opportunity to experience Chekhov with an authentic Russian cast.
Obviously, the Maly Drama Theatre company is suited to Chekhov through their cultural and human experience. To be sure, It is easier for them to translate themselves into the mood of 19th century Russia than non-Russian companies. Their Chekhov is entirely sympathetic and convincing. In their hands, the author is more robust, more physically effusive, and more transparent. Their approach to the emotional life of their characters is altogether more direct and vigorous. Without playing him for shallow laughs, they manage to capture his dark comic vision.
Despite having to read the English titles during the proceedings, the drama came through in their performance. And it was breathtakingly beautiful. If you have ever hesitated to go to an international performance at BAM because you feared the language barrier, take my word. You can read the English titles and absorb the dramatic action at the same time.
If you insist on a lively pace, this 3-hour production might play havoc with your nerves. Director Lev Dodin gives you no illusion of brisk activity. But you do get the action of real life. There is no waste of words or gesture in any scene. Though the characters can be reduced to a state of mute despair, their situation remains dramatic and riveting to watch.
The play is an amazing study of the middle class in late 19th century Russia, who hardly had more agency than the poorer classes beneath them. We see in this play that the middle class humbly accepted their situation: Vanya was loyal to his brother-in-law, Professor Serebriakov, who symbolically is a government official here. Historically, a professor in Russia was indirectly a government official and stuffily represented the ruling class. Not surprisingly, the Professor was admired by his old mother-in-law, Madame Voinitskaia. And the entire family sacrifices themselves to him.
The ostensible reason for this production is to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Chekhov’s birth. But the interest of the show is not merely historical. Although we may not live under the regime of the Romanovs, freedom and human agency remains a major concern of contemporary drama. The present-day lives of many people (in the American South and Appalachia) are not unlike those of Chekhov’s characters in Uncle Vanya. In fact, a sense of isolation, and being lost or blocked in one’s aspirations can happen in any country, city, town or village anywhere. Even in our country, the so-called “Land of the Free,” there are many people who are oppressed and lead lives of quiet desperation.
This production emphasizes the play’s universality, and assisted by the fine acting of the ensemble, it achieves its goals. The acting, in its male parts, is virile and invigorating. Sergey Kuryshev is quite right in the nominal role of Vanya, and carefully balances the comic clumsiness with the pathos of his character. He also adroitly conveys the sensitivity of Vanya as the lost artist in the late scenes. The rest of the cast (Vera Bykova, Igor Chernevich, Elena Kalinina, Alexander Koshkarev, Kseniya Rappoport, Alexander Zavyalov) strongly deliver here. While most can’t really comment on their spoken Russian, they recognize their profound and powerful grasp of this Chekhov drama.
David Borovsky’s set design is remarkably inventive and dynamic. Consisting of plain furniture and a few props on a wooden stage, it has a steel contraption overhead with several large haystacks on it. Even though it looks rather unimaginative and static at first, it ultimately serves to underscore the theme of inertia in the play. After the departure of the Professor and his wife Elena from the house in the final scene, we see the cold steel bars with the tall haystacks slowly descend to the stage’s floor, literally locking in the characters as they reflect on their harsh reality. It is deeply moving and reinforces Sonia’s poignant speech that ends the play.
If you missed this show, you missed something extraordinary. Uncle Vanya is a masterpiece of dramatic construction and its emotional grip is overpowering. It’s hard to see this comedy without being provoked to tears.
At the Harvey Theater at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.Through April 11th.For tickets and BAMbus information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit http://www.BAM.org