The premise is intriguing: Two one-act plays adapted from stories by legendary writers are staged together for the first time by Mint Theater Company artistic director Jonathan Banks, renowned for mining lost and underappreciated works, and veteran sound designer Jane Shaw, in her directorial debut.
So how to account for the strangely sleepy production that is Chekhov/Tolstoy Love Stories? The material is not to blame: The Artist, based on Chekhov’s “An Artist’s Story,” and Michael, based on Tolstoy’s “What Men Live By,” were both written by Miles Malleson, a British actor and playwright who in the early and mid-20th century adapted works by an array of notable authors, from Turgenev to Molière, for the stage and screen. Both plays are, if not revelatory, concise and lyrical, presenting ample opportunities for directors and actors to ponder their themes, which include social justice, mortality and, yes, love.
The program notes tell us that Chekhov—who shared a mutual admiration with Tolstoy, despite their differences in background and approach—”satirized Tolstoy’s asceticism and utilitarian approach to art in ‘An Artist’s Story.'” Yet Banks’s staging of The Artist offers little wit, or sparkle of any kind; it feels almost sullen, suffering in large part from a lack of chemistry between the performers—particularly those cast in the title role, Nicov, and the part of Genya, a young woman he meets while visiting the country. Alexander Sokovikov’s handsomely weathered Nicov is compelling, holding back as he contemplates his young admirer—his charm and slight air of dissolution at first made me think of Trigorin circling Nina in The Seagull (though Nicov’s intentions are less insidious)—then gaining force as he confronts and exchanges contrasting world views with Genya’s outspoken, socially conscious elder sister, Lidia, played by a competent but underwhelming Brittany Anikka Liu.
[Read David Finkle’s ★★ review here.]
Anna Lentz’s Genya, unfortunately, seems to have wandered in from a different time and place altogether. The problem lies not so much with Lentz’s contemporary, all-American beauty, which recalls a young Jennifer Connelly, as with her speech and movement, which seem more suited to a Disney TV series, or any number of plays and musicals set in our era, for that matter. Even the frilly period dress designed by Oana Botez seems not to fit the actress; she slouches in a manner that defies the character’s era and breeding.
Michael is directed by Shaw—who also provides sound design, as well as fetching original music, presented in lilting acoustic arrangements—and is more engaging, in part because the story, while less ideologically dense, is centered on a mysterious figure, the title character, whose presence and purpose are not revealed until the end. He’s played by Malik Reed, a powerfully built young man with a sweetly expressive face that holds our interest throughout, even though Michael speaks little until the end. Michael is a stranger, seemingly a lost soul, who finds his way into the home of a peasant couple, a cobbler and his wife, and, through tireless work and inexplicable skill, begins improving their prospects.
The couple, Simon and Matryona, are respectively played by J. Paul Nicholas and Katie Firth, who have larger roles than they do in Artist but come across as supporting players here as well, overshadowed by Reed and by the luminous veteran performer and nonagenarian Vinie Burrows, who turns up as a maid, Aniuska. Sokovikov pops in as a nobleman, rather more pompous than Nico; Lentz plays his servant, who again seems, well, ahead of her time—maybe less a Disney teen in this case than, say, an assistant at a digital startup.
Chekhov/Tolstoy runs just 90 minutes in total, and I’ve certainly seen shows of that duration that seemed more interminable than this one. I wouldn’t quite say “Nyet” to this piece—”Meh” would be more like it.
Chekhov/Tolstoy: Love Stories opened February 10, 2020, at Theatre Row and runs through March 14. Tickets and information: minttheater.org
