Uncle Vanya

Synopsis

Set on a crumbling country estate, Uncle Vanya is the tale of two obsessive love affairs that lead nowhere, and a flirtation that brings disaster. The irascible Vanya and his niece Sonya have managed the estate on behalf of their relative, a renowned Professor for the last twenty-five years. Now retired, the Professor and his beautiful young wife come to visit, throwing the household into disarray, igniting hidden passions and old grudges. Family ties are tested further when the ageing and gout-ridden Professor announces his plans to sell the estate and live off the proceeds in the city. By turns comic, tragic, romantic, and wistful, Chekhov's play is an unforgettable study of unfulfilled dreams and unrequited love. One of his four great masterpieces written on the eve of the twentieth century, it features a feast of subtle comic portraits of a family at logger heads with each other and the world around them, that still has resonance at the start of another new century.

Our Review:

28 January 2008

The best news about the Rose in Kingston is that it really does work as a welcoming and agreeable theatre. You could not say that Peter Hall’s production of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya - in Stephen Mulrine’s 1999 translation for English Touring Theatre, which inaugurates the new theatre before embarking on a nationwide tour - will go down as one of the greatest in history; but it is a serviceable, unfussy account, fleetly played.

The simplicity of the Rose means that the play must stand on its own two feet. There is nowhere to store or fly scenery. The house is arranged on three levels hugging the wide, epic stage, which is now cunningly tilted in a rake, with “groundlings” seated on cushions on the floor.

Designer Alison Chitty, who has finished the theatre in discreet blue and white to complement the new wood everywhere, places a single glowing tree centre stage and gives the actors a battery of chairs to sit and loll on, and move gingerly between. Th...

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Latest User Review

dcc - 8 February 2008:

rds is ridiculously unkind. A stunning space , brilliant sight lines and a production which, while not going to set the world alight, was clear and thoughtful made for an exceptional outing. All the word of mouth is positive. But the challenge is tremendous now that Hall's name is no longer attached to the project. Let us keep our fingers crossed....

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