Uncle Vanya review, St James Theatre

Chekhov isn't a barrel of laughs. Uncle Vanya -  the unravelling of a man whose middle-aged yearnings force him to confront a life of unfulfilled expectation - is normally enough to send one running for the vodka.  In Anya Reiss's modern reframing, however, escape isn't necessary. The draining preoccupations of the Russian gentry are mitigated by amusing updates. Talk of iPads, speed cameras, Valium, and sustainability make the content real and interesting. The empty days up ahead for Uncle Vanya and his disappointed niece Sonya, will be about managing rather than mourning, their lives.

The catalyst in Uncle Vanya is lovely Yelena, the young wife of Vanya's elderly brother-in-law. The Professor, as he's known, inherited the estate when his first wife, Vanya's sister, died. Since then he's lived in the city, but illness brings him back with Yelena to the estate that Vanya has painstakingly been running. Vanya is instantly smitten by the young woman. So too is the robust and lively doctor, Astrov, on whom Sonya has pinned her hopes. For a few weeks, life as they've known it stops. Then the Professor announces his plan to sell up and the incremental tensions in the house clarify as a battle. Vanya's years of solitude and servitude unleash in a torrent of violent words and actions. Under Russell Bolam's direction, it's lively stuff. 

As Uncle Vanya gorgeous John Hannah is far cuter than one imagines the lead should be, but offset a little by the glowing, towering, Joe Dixon who fills the stage with energy as Astrov. Amanda Hale as Sonya, starts invisible and becomes steadily sharper as her life starts to focus. Conversely, Amanda Boxer's delicate Yelena becomes steadily smaller as if the estate is not just robbing her of happiness but of substance.  There are terrific turns too from Alan Francis, Jack Shepherd, Rebecca Night and Buffy Davis.

In conclusion: You need to like Chekhov to see Chekhov. This production is a good litmus test for first timers. It is true to the original preoccupations and themes, but is culturally current rather than historically, and some might feel hysterically, overblown. The first timer with whom I went found the second half too wordy, but was keen to try more.  

References

St James Theatre, Uncle Vanya: Tickets

St James Theatre, Palace Street, Victoria, London SW1.   Run ends November 8