Life goes on… and on: Abbey Morgan and Yalin Ozucelik. Photo:PrudenceUpton
What a lively and sparkling adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya this is. Joanna Murray-Smith has brought out the comedy in this tale of lives blighted by disillusionment and ennui without losing the melancholy underlying the tale. Her contemporary dialogue is so easy on the ear but doesn’t detract at all from Chekhov’s themes.
On a crumbling estate somewhere in Russia, Uncle Vanya (Yalin Ozucelik) and his young niece Sonya (Abbey Morgan) work all hours to keep the place from going under, with only a couple of aged retainers Nanny (Vanessa Downing) and Telyeghin (John Gaden) for company – unless the local doctor Astrov (Tim Walter) visits. What proceeds there are from the estate are sent to Sonya’s father Professor Serebryakov (David Lynch) to support his academic lifestyle in the city.
Poor Sonya is hopelessly in love with Astrov, but he doesn’t notice her at all – he ‘doesn’t have time to love anyone’; his chief interest outside medicine is the preservation of forests (it’s been noted that this Chekhov play is the first to champion an ecological cause).
The estate’s humdrum routine is disrupted when Serebryakov turns up with his second – and much younger – wife, Yelena (Chantelle Jamieson). Their arrival is not entirely welcome. Pompous and gloriously self-important, Serebryakov announces his plan to sell the estate – unleashing fury from the oppressed/depressed Yalin – and a host of suppressed emotions from the other characters. Is Yelena happy with her choice of husband? What’s really to blame for Yalin’s negativity? Is Arkov immune to passion? Will Sonya get her man?
Director Mark Kilmurry has selected an outstanding ensemble cast. It’s a joy to see Gaden and Downing at work, their performances in these minor roles perfectly nuanced. As Serebryakov, Lynch is wonderfully self-absorbed, as is Jamieson as Yelena. And Morgan, Walter and Ozucelik are just superb. Morgan is so believable as lovelorn Sonya, heartbroken and practical at the same time; Walter’s Arkov, as blind to the feelings of others as Serebryakov, is a delight to watch; and Ozucelik seems like dream casting for Uncle Vanya, who feels as if he is literally wasting away. Murray Smith has given him some wonderful comi-tragic lines, and he delivers them with aplomb. On Serebryakov, for example, Vanya declaims: ‘He falls upwards’; and ‘even the paper he writes on feels exploited’.
This Uncle Vanya flies by (it runs for two hours 20 minutes, including an interval). Who knew Chekhov could be so funny (and still so sad). Definitely one to go and see.
Until 31s August 2024
Tickets: $43-88
https://www.ensemble.com.au/shows/uncle-vanya/
