Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” has been spun into a new, hilarious, and stunning version by Heidi Schreck. As I sat at the Vivian Beaumont in Lincoln Center Theater, I could not stop laughing. The play has one of the most entertaining ensemble casts you will see on a stage and I loved its non-traditional casting.
The cast is led by ridiculously zany Steve Carell. His Vanya is a performance richly filled with humor, depth, and passion; Carell proved that he can do it all.
The play is set in the family’s country estate and working farm. Vanya has family members visiting, as well as other people who live and work on the farm.
Alfred Molina portrays Alexander, Vanya’s former brother-in-law, a writer and formerly successful college professor, now a man who thinks too highly of his own self-worth and is oblivious to the feelings and sacrifices of others around him. He is visiting with his new wife Elena, non-traditionally cast with Anika Noni Rose. Rose embodies this character with passion, pain, and conviction. She is a young woman in a loveless marriage, living with a man who has only bitterness in his heart.
Alison Pill poignantly plays Sonia, Alexander’s daughter and Vanya’s niece, whose mother has died and who has always stayed on the family farm and worked it to send money to her father.
Jayne Houdyshell is charming, funny, and feisty as Maria, Vanya’s mother. Mia Katigbak is quite funny as Marina, the housekeeper and cook. Spencer Donovan Jones is amusing as Neighbor, as is Jonathan Hadary as Waffles.
William Jackson Harper plays Astrov, the local doctor who often comes by to visit with the family. Harper is absolutely captivating in scenes with Rose. As the doctor, he does not care much about relationships, but once he sees Elena, he changes his mind. He is drawn to her for not only her outer beauty, but her inner beauty. The electricity between the two characters is illuminating and passionate.
This story lets the audience see how a person can take other people for granted, even those who have sacrificed all their lives for that person. In this case, Vanya, his niece Sonia, and his mother Maria have always sent money to Alexander, even though it meant that they went without. Finding that he is no longer famous or popular, Alexander decides that there is a way to guarantee that he stays financially solvent, no matter what that might mean in the lives of his late wife’s family.
The humor, tension, and passion in this production will captivate audiences from start to finish. The production has superb direction by Lila Neugebauer. Every technical aspect is engaging, including sets by Mimi Lien, costumes by Kaye Voyce, lighting by Lap Chi Chu and Elizabeth Harper, and sound by Mikhail Fiksel and Beth Lake.
“Uncle Vanya” is worth your time and then some. It is playing through June 16. For more information, visit www.lct.org.