By Cynthia Citron
SYDNEY, Australia–Who would have guessed that the elegant Cate Blanchett had a flair for physical comedy reminiscent of Chevy Chase in his pratfalling prime? As Yelena in Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya at the Sydney Theatre, she jumps, she pirouettes, she kicks up her heels, she falls backwards, legs in the air, into an armchair, she leaps, Nijinsky-like, halfway across the stage into the arms of her would-be lover. And she carries the responsibility for keeping the drama moving as well.
Yelena is the second wife of a pompous, pretentious professor, (played with cranky imperiousness by Australian actor John Bell), whom she once admired but does not love. (He is retiring after 25 years, and laments that “nobody notices.”) He has brought her to his rundown country estate for a vacation, where she is bored and unhappy. Slowly, almost tediously, we are introduced to the other characters who live on the estate or in the vicinity. There is Sofia (Hayley McElhinney), the professor’s daughter from his previous marriage, Uncle Vanya (Richard Roxburgh), brother of the professor’s first wife and Sofia’s uncle, Vanya’s mother (Sandy Gore), and the constantly visiting country doctor, Astrov (Hugo Weaving), as well as various retainers.
This introductory first act is Pinteresque in its movements: slow and filled with long silences. The mood is grim, as each of its participants ruminates on his wasted, fruitless life. Even the professor expresses his doubts about the significance of his life’s work. And Vanya, who has managed the estate slavishly for years, bemoans the fact that he did not pursue Yelena when he first met her a decade earlier, even though he now describes her as living in “a stupefaction of laziness.”
In this dreary household Yelena becomes the focus of all the men’s attentions, with Vanya and the doctor, Astrov, professing their love for her. She is attracted to the doctor even though she knows that her stepdaughter Sofia has been in love with him for years. As a favor to Sofia, Yelena asks Astrov if he has any feelings for the girl, (“It’s better to know,” she tells Sofia), but Astrov’s answer leaves Sofia stranded in the hopelessness of unrequited love. She all but sucks her thumb as she takes her seat in a tiny baby chair beside her nanny, a formidable Jacki Weaver.
(As an aside, at the Moscow Theatre premiere in 1899 Astrov was played by the iconic Konstantin Stanislavski, who also directed the production.)
This current Australian production is directed by Hungarian director Tamas Ascher, considered one of the world’s foremost interpreters of Chekhov, from an adaptation of the play created by Andrew Upton. Under Ascher’s sure direction the actors are consistently credible, funny and endearing sporadically, contemplative and even tragic the rest of the time. The dark moods of the players are mirrored by Zsolt Khell’s imaginative but monochromatic setting; the overwhelming browns of the set are relieved only by the bright costumes designed for Ms. Blanchett by Gyorgyi Szakacs.
All in all, this is a fascinating and first-rate rendering of a classic play. But it is Chekhov, after all, and you know how the Russians are about tragedy… And so, apparently, are the Aussies: the huge Sydney Theatre has been sold out for every performance since the show opened in early November.
So why am I telling you all this? Well, when this intriguing Australian production finishes its run on New Year’s Day, it is rumored that it will be coming to America. If it does, you’ll definitely want to see it. Cate Blanchett alone, cavorting on stage, is well worth the price of admission.
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Citron is Los Angeles bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World. She was recently on a vacation in Australia