Vanya

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A playful thought came to mind watching Andrew Scott (Sherlock on PBS) in his fascinating one-man adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya.  Slightly updated, its title shortened to Vanya, this two-hour showcase of bravura acting came perilously close to French farce territory with all the male characters dithering in various states of sexual expectancy about one female character.

What in other productions, such as last year’s Lincoln Center Theatre staging, is portrayed as substantially darker here bordered on the droll, enhanced by James Farncombe’s bright lighting design and Scott’s breezy acting style.

The object of these fellows’ passion is the gorgeous Helena (Yelena in the original). Pheromones waft through the Lucille Lortel Theatre as Scott races about the stage, disappearing behind a closet only to emerge as yet another character.  (The utilitarian set by Rosanna Vize also includes a large mirror giving the audience a glimpse of itself thus becoming another character in Vanya.)

After a bit of fourth wall foreplay, Vanya, here called Ivan, sits and complains about his life spent toiling on the large estate in the Russian countryside, once owned by his late, lamented sister Vera (now Anna). Ivan is in a chronically sardonic mood, constantly moaning over his fate, moodiness that leads to a surprisingly frenetic finale when bad news threatens all the characters.

Alexander, Anna’s widower, is an aging has-been film maker.  (In Uncle Vanya, he is a pompous, entitled, over-the-hill professsor who hasn’t published for decades.)  Helena is his much younger second wife.  It is she who stimulates the hormones of the males on the farm and is the object of Sonia’s envy. The woebegone daughter of Anna and Alexander, poor Sonia has a deep crush on Michael, the doctor who comes frequently to the estate to deal with Alexander’s mostly imaginary maladies.

The real reason Michael makes the arduous journey to the countryside is to be close to Helena. He is the only one to actually make love to her in a brilliant scene that is both hilarious and sensual.  How Scott manages this has to be seen.

All told Scott impersonates nine characters. He is sometimes subtle, sometimes over-the-top, always fascinating, particularly as Helena who, in Scott’s nimble interpretation, slowly morphs into the complex woman written by Chekhov, almost the conscience of the play. She tries to advise Sonia who is unrequitedly in love with Michael.   To Ivan, she is an attractive nuisance.  Scott manages to communicate all of this.

In 2017 David Greenspan similarly performed a one-person version of a multi-character play.  In his case it was Eugene O’Neill’s Strange Interlude, perhaps a harder nut to crack, but another illustration of the inventiveness of great actors.  Scott joins an elite club.

Natalie Pryce is credited with the costumes: a casually unbuttoned teal-colored shirt and loose, pale pants both of which consistent with Scott’s performance style. (Physicality, whatever that means, is credited to Michela Meazza.)

Scott was also aided by the easy-on-the-ear adaptation of the original by Tony Award-winning British playwright Simon Stephens and Sam Yates’ collaborative direction. Vanya, is, of course, more than a fresh interpretation of a classic play. It is an event and one that shouldn’t be missed.

Vanya (through May 11, 2025)

Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, visit http://www.lortel.org

Running time: two hours and five minutes without an intermission