Cocky & Loaded: Uncle Vanya @ the Intiman
Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya @ the Intiman
Through July 18 // Intiman Theatre // Adults $48-$34 (Under-25 $10)
"Uncle Vanya," says our friend as we're headed to the theater, "that's the Chekhov play where there's an old family estate...um...on the outskirts of Moscow...and there's a doctor running around." Okay, yes, it can feel like there's one big Chekhov play called Uncle Cherry Sisters or Three Seagull Orchard, but that's no reason to poke fun.
Besides, this version has Samantha "Pump Up the Volume" Mathis in it, whom we'll discuss in more detail later. If you don't dig gloom and melancholy, cheer up: as updated by Craig Lucas and directed by Bart Sher, this Uncle Vanya is moody but not depressive. It spills over with laughter, teasing, romantic giddiness -- all the emotions that in "Russian plays" are frequently forbidden. It also spills over with music by Adam "Light in the Piazza" Guettel and features a Celtic dulcimer standing in as a balalaika.
Here's the official synopsis -- and here's our version: 27-year-old Elena (Samantha "Hottie" Mathis) is married to an older, hypochondriac professor (Allen Fitzpatrick) whose fame is in decline and so they've moved back to the sticks to try to save on rent. In the sticks live Vanya, who's got a huge crush on Elena and is pushing 50, and the professor's daughter Sonya, who's got a huge crush on the local young doctor, Astrov. Vanya is a sharp guy himself, once a big fan of the professor's work -- his sister was married to the professor, but passed away. He's spent his life managing the estate, scrimping for himself, and sending the professor money to live on. Now he thinks the professor's a blowhard and he's wasted his life. Plus, why should a cranky old goat get the trophy wife?
At this point, we should mention there are some gunshots in this play, which is just great (the play, not the gunshots). We don't really want to bore you with how much we love Chekhov but this play in particular gives you both terrific, memorable characters and family drama, and a commentary on pseudo-intellectual-vanguard leadership that's most interested, when it comes down to it, in living well even if comes at the expense of others (cf. History of Russia).
Mark Nelson's Vanya is bitter, dripping with sarcasm, and derailed -- he's lost his sense of purpose and all his attempts to seduce Elena only succeed in annoying her. Though we were sold on the character's caustic humor, Nelson didn't clutch at Elena like the last straw she is for Vanya, but more puppyishly, as if expecting to be slapped down. (Telegin, the professor and Elena's lapdog, as played by Todd Jefferson Moore, is all gangly obsequiousness, which only irritates Vanya, naturally.)
Mathis's Elena is almost in her own play -- which works because as a smart, beautiful-but-useless woman she does exist apart. Her attempt to bridge that gap and get an "us-girls" thing going with Sonya (Kristin Flanders) provoked sympathetic murmurs from the audience. (Or, said another way, people went, "Awwwww.")
Tim Hopper's charming Dr. Astrov had us scratching our heads a bit -- the doctor's a workaholic, a conservation nut, and goes on drinking binges. He's got a freakishly relevant monologue where -- impersonating Edward Tufte -- he unveils some maps that detail the devastating effects of the area's inhabitants on the environment over time. But he suddenly develops a thing for Elena and we didn't see, from Hopper's portrayal, what the connection was. Nor did we understand what his problem with Sonya was -- but maybe that's because Kristin Flanders isn't as plain as the play seems to think Sonya is. Plus, she has loads of personality!
Finally, if you're into this kind of thing, the cinematic, yet intimate set by John McDermott is brilliantly served by Brian MacDevitt's lighting, its counterplay of spots and washes highlighting the personal moment against the much wider expanse of history. Really, the creative team on this show should take their own bow.
Chris Bennion photo: Mark Nelson (Uncle Vanya) and Samantha Mathis (Elena). In the background is Todd Jefferson Moore (Telegin)
