Friday 30th October until Saturday 21st November 2009 @ Bristol Old Vic, Bristol

Anton Chekhov was a Russian short-story writer and playwright in the late 1800s and his four plays have arguably been the most lasting and influential of modern times. First performed in 1900, Uncle Vayna was the second of Chekhov’s plays and this trage-comedy follows the fortunes of a once wealthy family living in rural Russia during industrialisation; as the landscape falls into decline around them, so do the family’s internal relationships.

This is Shakespeare At The Tobacco Factory’s second dabble in Chekhov, only the second time the theatre company have performed outside the pillars of their beloved Tobacco Factory Theatre and is also the company’s first every co-production. But as well as being a big step forward for the company, this play is an important signal that the Bristol Old Vic theatre in an effort to turn its fortunes around is willing to look inwardly at Bristol to work with the people and companies that are already here, rather than say sourcing successful shows from London, and this surely is a recipe for recovery.

The play itself is an absorbing adaptation with some very engaging performances. The set is bathed in calm pastel colours, effectively creating a feeling of time standing still, and design elements like furniture dust sheets often do better at subtly mirroring the characters’ worn-out ambitions than the script itself, the tiresome metaphor of the stagnating forest particularly springing to mind.

The pace is a little slow and takes some patience but is prone to hilariously and violently bursting into life, especially with the fluctuating temper of the increasingly desperate Vanya; Simon Armstrong is fiery and passionate when he needs to be but also manages to excellently portray the broken man, forever in the shadow of his brother-in-law. Paul Currier too, after having a string of minor parts in SATTF’s last few productions, is given centre stage and excels as the passionate and intelligent Doctor Astrov; his strengths often showing up Alys Thomas, playing Yelena, opposite him. Thomas is effective in Acts 1 and 2 as the cold, emotionless wife but when the script requires her to become daring and instinctive, the acting is a little off kilter with a distracting amount of over the top gesturing.

Uncle Vanya is a step away from SATTF’s usual minimalist style but they still manage to superbly retain the intimate, honest and effective storytelling for which they have become famed for.

www.sattf.org.uk

Matthew Whittle www.matthewwhittleblog.blogspot.com
Photos by Graham Burke