Review: Uncle Vanya & Three Sisters at the Wyndham's Theatre

Three Sisters

Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters
Performed in rep at the Wyndham's Theatre
Reviewed on Thursday 24th April 2014

It really isn't every day you sit in the royal circle of one of the West End's most beautiful theatres and watch two three-hour-long Chekhov plays performed in Russian (with English surtitles) back to back. This may be some people's idea of hell, but many are embracing this rare and exciting opportunity.

Film and theatre director, producer and screenwriter Andrei Konchalovsky has brought his productions of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters from Moscow’s Mossovet State Academic Theatre to the West End. The performers and designs remain the same, providing an extraordinary opportunity for theatregoers in London.

Uncle Vanya

The plays are fascinatingly similar, both centring around the struggles of routine existence and temptation. We see what happens when people are pushed to their limits. In Uncle Vanya (my favourite of the two pieces) it seems everyone loves everyone, apart from the person who loves them. Three Sisters follows three sisters who are struggling with life following the death of their father.

Both plays very much remind you that you are sat in a theatre, making the experience more thought-provoking. Acts are separated in Uncle Vanya with noisy, modern day traffic being projected onto the back wall while the backstage team take their time to change the set. In Three Sisters, video interviews with the cast are shown between acts, which include one cast member taking the opportunity to give a shout out to her mother, children and friends.

Does this work? Personally I think the answer is yes! During both intervals and after both plays I overheard so many in depth discussions and debates about the characters, stories, themes and issues. It seemed everybody had an opinion and many found themselves deeply caught up in the story, which is so important as that’s what theatre is all about! We see a handful of tremendous performances from two hard-working casts (many actors feature in both plays).

Three Sisters

Reading surtitles for three hours is hard work, but as long as you have an understanding of the play you choose to see, you will find you are more drawn to the action unfolding on stage. Konchalovsky's direction is mostly visual and rarely static. There is a considerable amount of dwelling in both plays which becomes very tiresome; perhaps the texts could have been slightly shortened. I found the final half of Three Sisters particularly tedious.

During the interval of Uncle Vanya, I overheard a lady say "It's very Russian!" which is indeed a perfect (and very obvious) summary of my day! Both plays are dramatic and intense, build up tension and release it spectacularly - theatre doesn't get more Russian than this!

Reviewed by Andrew Tomlins (Editor)

Uncle Vanya and Three Sister play in rep at the Wyndham's Theatre until Saturday 3rd May 2014. 
Please visit www.chekhovlondon.co.uk for further information and tickets.

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