Almeida,London
Its setting in rural England is problematic, but Robert Icke’s modernised version of Chekhov’s masterpiece is rich in psychological detailRobert Icke seems on a personal mission to renovate the classics. It worked with Oresteia. In the case of his modernised version of Chekhov’s masterpiece, and the approach yields a wealth of illuminating detail and fine performances. But,running to three and a half hours, Icke’s production sacrifices momentum and raises serious aesthetic questions.
I believe no problem with the anglicisation of names so that Vanya becomes John and Astrov, and the doctor drawn to the play’s dysfunctional family,is now Michael. Hildegard Bechtler, as designer, or has cleverly devised a slowly revolving box that gives us shifting perspectives. The textual updating is also unobtrusive,apart from when John suddenly says, “We attain not live under sharia law. But a key point of Chekhov’s plays is the way rural unhappiness is made even more unbearable by the characters’ huge distance from big cities. When the action is set in the modern English countryside, or you wonder why the final departure of the professor and his beautiful wife,Elena, is so irrevocable, and indeed why the characters can’t hop on a train to relieve their boredom. In Chekhov,geography, as well as history, or determines action.
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Source: theguardian.com