Friday

Always nice to be surprised by a show.  Went to see "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" by Christopher Durang at ACT earlier tonight.  And while it started slow, and I thought R. Hamilton Wright as Vanya and Marianne Owen as Sonia seemed to be hamming it up a little in Act I, they both just nailed it by the end of Act II, she with her phone conversation (and there was a cheer from the audience when she changed her mind and said "yes" to the date; it seemed that everyone wanted her to be happy, to have something in her life go good), and he in his rant against the disconnection of modern society, in the middle of the performance of his play (which was also taken off of the avant garde play in "The Seagull.")  So by the end, it ended up being one of my favorite shows of the year.

It had a stellar cast (R. Hamilton Wright, Marianne Owen, Cynthia Jones, Pamela Reed, William Poole, and Sydney Andrews) and the set, lighting, sound, costuming, all worked together in the service of telling the story, no element out of place, or competing for attention (not always the case.)

The story is Sonia, Vanya, and Masha are middle-aged siblings.  Sonia was adopted, Vanya is gay, and Masha is a movie star.  Sonia and Vanya spent all of their earlier adult years caring for their parents and have never worked outside of the home.  Sonia is miserable, Vanya writes plays.  Masha was gone all those years, but she was the one working to pay all the bills, as well as give the other two stipends.  She comes home unexpectedly for a neighbor's costume party, and brings along a boy toy named "Spike," probably half her age.  She announces that she is going to sell the house.  There is also a housekeeper named Cassandra who enters the house with sweeping negative prophecies.  (Neither she nor Spike have any connection to Chekhov.)  And Nina is the attractive niece of the neighbors.  A young, aspiring actress, that Spike discovers and invites along to the party.  Masha expects to be the center of attention, dressed as Disney's Snow White, but it is Sonia who steals the show, dressing up and pretending to be Maggie Smith on the way to the Oscars, which brings out a more social and sparkling side of her personality.

The next day, Sonia gets a phone call from someone who met her at the party and wants to ask her on a date.  If she's ever been on a date, it's been over 20 years, she eventually agrees.  Nina reads Vanya's play and convinces him to have it performed/read for the group.  She plays a molecule.  Spike starts texting in the middle of it, and when confronted for that, says he can multitask, which sets Vanya off on his rant.  Spike admits he is running off with Masha's assistant.  She sends him away.  And then relents to not selling the house.  (The abruptness of that choice wasn't really believable to me.)  It ends with them listening to the Beatles.

I think my enjoyment of it was (fortuitously) increased by my having read, and seen, so much Chekhov lately.  And while it was loosely based on Chekhov's writings, there were a lot of references: the cherry orchard, the thought of losing the family home, the play, "Uncle Vanya," the character of Nina, the idleness, the unhappiness, etc., as well as some direct lines from "The Three Sisters."  So, that was a nice coincidence.

Speaking of Chekhov, I'm halfway through the Lydia Avilov book.  It's interesting, though a bit of a clunky translation (can't always tell who is speaking.)  Also, partially through my third (and final for now) reading of a translation of "The Three Sisters," this one by Richard Nelson.  I prefer the McGuinness and the Friel translations.  Apparently, Mamet also did one, but I'm on to other things after this one.

Missed a show I had a ticket for that started at 11 pm.  I'd wanted to go, but I'm tired, and didn't feel like waiting for a bus on 3rd Ave at 1 am.  (It was 60 different, 60 second acts.  Really wanted to see what people come up with for one minute of performance time.)  Maybe next year.