Andrew Scott remembers ‘screaming like a banshee’ during unexpected Vanya moment

Vanya co-creators Andrew Scott, Simon Stephens, Rosanna Vize and Sam Yates came together last week for a special screening of the WhatsOnStage Award-nominated West End show ahead of its cinema release later this month.

Available on screens across the world from 22 February, the production saw Scott take on every single role in Stephens’ adaptation of Chekhov’s venerated text about love, ennui, family and labour.

As can be imagined, Scott playing every role would have been a relatively isolating experience for the actor (though Yates explained to the screening’s crowd that he attended every performance). That isolation led to some relatively hilarious moments, as Scott explained in a special Q&A after the film.

Recounting one experience during the run, he said: “I was on the stage, and I was really, really in it. And the next thing you know, Martin our stage manager has come on – really quite fast – onto the stage. And I screamed! Because I’d never seen anyone else on the stage before during the run.

“As it turned out, someone had had a medical emergency in the audience and, thankfully, they were completely fine, but the team had to call the doctor. At that point, Martin asked me to leave the stage – which is something I’d never done before – as I’m on stage throughout the show, it felt like a fever dream having to wait in the wings.”

Regaining his composure was also a new test for Scott: “So when I went back on I had to then rewind. It was a strange experience realising just how far into my imagination I go during the show. But to say I screamed like a banshee – it shows just how often there was no-one else to share that show with once you’ve started.”

Vanya is being screened on 22 February.