Oh, the angst.
It just drips off the stage in Arizona Repertory Theatre’s production of Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya.”
Unrequited love. An environment faced with destruction. Inequitable treatment of women. The themes are woven throughout this tragicomedy. The play is over 100 years old, but the issues are just as hot-button today.
The play takes place on the country estate run by Vanya and his niece, Sonya. The bulk of the money from the estate is sent to Sonya’s father, the pompous Professor, and his younger, glamorous second wife, Yelena. Vanya and a family doctor, the tree-hugging Astrov, yearn for Yelena. Yearning is a constant in this play. Resentment for the Professor multiplies, and when he suggests selling the estate to better support his preferred urban lifestyle, things erupt.
Lily Wilson in Arizona Repertory Theatre's production of "Uncle Vanya."
There’s much darkness in this play. So much so that it is difficult for the comedy to come through.
That was the case with this Kevin Black-directed production. There were moments when the dark comedy breathed, but not many.
With the exception of David Breitbarth, a visiting artist with extensive experience, the women ran away with the show.
Isabella Santoni, though far too beautiful to play the homely Sonya, made her longing for the doctor, Astrov, palpable. Her heartbreak was evident through her whole being.
The haughty, cold Yelena was given full life by Lily Wilson as she wrestled with her boredom and flirted with the men who so obviously pined for her. Isabella Russo wrung all the comedy out of the role of Marina, an old nurse living on the estate.
Andrew Flekier was overwrought as Vanya. He started at such a high intensity that he had nowhere to go when his angry rant at the professor brought the play to its climax.
Where Flekier was over-the-top, Leland Hao was too understated as the sensitive Astrov. His passion for the environment and for Yelena never really came through.
This is a difficult play to stage given how morose and thick with longing the characters are. You have to admire the University of Arizona theater students on the stage for their bravery. But one wishes the play hadn’t felt so labored.
Arizona Repertory Theatre’s production of “Uncle Vanya” continues through Dec. 8 at the Marroney Theatre in the University of Arizona Fine Arts Complex. Tickets are $30-$32 at theatre.arizona.edu or 520-621-3341. The play runs 2 hours with one intermission.
