Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, the latest stage offering from Infernal Bridegroom Productions, has guns, a murder attempt, betrayal and seduction. The only caveat is that none of the aforementioned action actually happens (on stage). “The thing about Chekhov,” explains director Tamarie Cooper, “is that there may be very little action going on, but under the surface, it’s just the opposite. A character may say, ‘Oh, I’m bored,’ while inside a storm of dashed hopes, crushed expectations, regret, defeat, romance and heartbreak is stirring.”
Subtitled Scenes from Country Life, the play’s characters — the professor and his young wife, the professor’s daughter, her uncle (Vanya), the country doctor and others — are made distinct from modern audiences by period costumes and their experiences in the 1890s Russian countryside. What makes them indistinct is their universal torment. “It would be odd to see people in jeans and a T-shirt talking about 19th-century Russia,” says Cooper, “but the period does not limit the theme of what a terrifying, occasionally hilarious, fate it is to live life every day.” No performance Saturday, March 11.
Thu., Feb. 23, 8 p.m.; Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Thu., March 9, 8 p.m. Starts: Feb. 23. Continues through March 18
This article appears in Mar 9-15, 2006.