Somewhere the master playwright Anton Chekhov is either fit to be tied or laughing into his cup of vodka. I suppose both could be possible, and that’s probably how Christopher Durang would write it given the impulse.
On the other hand, we get to laugh throughout the Garfield’s summer masterpiece, Durang’s “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.”
Mocking desolate souls can be a tough sell but Durang gives away freely large chunks of theatrical personality disorder in the Bucks County household of Vanya and Sonia. Given a hiccup in timing—a long, long pause for instance— of these good actors, you could find yourself l slipping off into the murky depths of an existential crisis.
But this crew doesn’t let us go there. Instead, we skim across a sunny lampoon of Chekhovian despair, and from what I’ve seen, this cast has the chops to keep things brisk. I don’t usually associate the word ‘frolic’ with anything in Russian literature—The House of the Dead, anyone?—but I may have found an exception. How else can you explain a family that dresses up in Disney characters—yes, Snow White is one—and yet ruminates sadly about their unredeemable past?
The cast has a strong grasp of Durang’s sense of fun, and each member brings to the play his and her own nicely developed character. We get to know them quickly and begin to anticipate their quirks and hope that they can surpass each antic with something even a little more strange.
For Chekhov fans, little in-jokes are sprinkled throughout the play. The house, for instance, is in the middle of a cherry orchard, although there is an argument over the number of cheery trees required for “orchard-ness,” one of the moments that Durang entices and simultaneously rejects the Chekhovian motif. It’s fun, and I think there’s a seagull in there, or a bird of some sort. After all, Chekhov helped pay for school by selling goldfinches.
Directed by Bonnie Hill, with a wonderfully composed country farm set design by Earl Lewin, Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike, gives us a strong cast able to concoct a magic formula for an off-the-wall evening of angst-free entertainment. Bob Chauncey, Julie Lawrence, Diane Landskroener, Dylan Wayne, Maya Betley and Jane Jewell will open the Garfield play tonight.
Stop reading Crime and Punishment, leave your dacha, and head for the Garfield tonight, this weekend or the next.
For schedules and ticket information, go here.
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