Comically absurdist—or absurdly comic—playwright Christopher Durang hit it big, commercial theater-wise, in 2012 with Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Not to say that he hadn’t filled his very own well-upholstered niche with a parade of off-kilter comedies since The Idiots Karamazov (which set the stage, as it were) in 1974 and Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You (which established him, with a vengeance) in 1979. But with Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Durang demonstrated that he was ready for mainstream audiences, and that mainstream audiences were finally ready for him.
The play, which originated at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J., and was remounted at Lincoln Center Theater’s Mitzi Newhouse, defied expectations when the small-house run transferred to Broadway’s Golden Theatre for a profitable 201 performances, capped by the 2013 Best Play Tony Award.
That production—featuring the cast that played all three venues—was filmed for promotional purposes during the Newhouse run. The folks at Lincoln Center Theater have seen fit to re-edit the footage into a presentable whole and stream it, free of cost. Which makes this special production of this special play available to all. Thanks are due not only to LCT, but to the entire onstage and backstage participants, along with the multiple unions and guilds involved. This is the first of four announced plays in a series the company is calling “Private Reels: From the LCT Archives,” and what a present it is for theatergoers who presently cannot go to theater.
One could explain that Durang’s conceit was to take Chekhov and move him to Bucks County, Penn. Only, Chekhov is not known to have written about Disney’s Snow White or The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet; nor does a cursory check of the combined Chekhovian dramatis personae locate a character called Spike who struts around, when he can, clad only in Calvin Kleins and lime green New Balance running shoes. How do you say “Calvin Klein” in Cyrillic?
Rather, the middle-aged playwright gives us what we might call a Pirandelloic/Simonian nightmare of suburban sub-boomerish angst. And if you don’t follow, take a look at David Hyde Pierce’s hysterical (in two senses) seven-minute diatribe of a breakdown he gives his own personal dopplegänger of a Vanya.
Which I suppose brings us to a discussion of the Durang’s cast. The play was headlined by Hyde Pierce, Sigourney Weaver, and Kristine Nielsen. The first two go back to Durang’s earliest days, having appeared in Beyond Therapy, the playwright’s less-than-auspicious first Broadway play back in 1982. In fact, Weaver goes even further back with Durang, to the days when they were students at the Yale School of Drama. Nielsen—who is far less known than her colleagues but no less expert, being among the most distinctive comic actors on today’s stage—is a Durang veteran, having appeared in such works as Betty’s Summer Vacation and Why Torture Is Wrong and the People Who Love Them. And yes, that’s the correct title.
All of which is to say that Vanya and Masha and Sonia are not simply exquisitely wrought characters, here portrayed by exquisite comedic performers. This is in all likelihood a case where the playwright filled these roles with every trick and trait he could picture his pals pulling off while sitting alone at his desk in Bucks County. Hyde Pierce, Weaver, and Nielsen are so far over the top that they should be admonished and exiled to the corner wearing Actors Studio dunce caps, except they are way too funny for that. This is one case where too much is never too much.
What enhances the fun is the presence of three non-veteran, non-Durang inhabitants from Actors’ Equity general membership, who step up to the challenge and manage, more or less, to be as outrageous as their accomplished elders. Genevieve Angelson plays Nina, drafted out of not Uncle Vanya but The Seagull, who comes to disrupt the lives of the Three Sisters. Or rather, the two sisters and brother Vanya. Shalita Grant plays Cassandra, a Greek prophetess who serves as cleaning lady and tries to ward off ills, evils, Hootie Pie, and whatever else Durang can conjure (and Durang is a prodigious conjurer). Beware the Ides of March, and also Cassandra’s Snow White voodoo doll. There’s also Billy Magnussen as the disruptively narcissistic young actor Spike, a character Durang apparently contrived himself without any help from Chekhov.
To all of this must be added praise for the late Nicholas Martin, an extremely talented if self-effacing director responsible for a considerable amount of fine theater over the course of his 50-year career. This included Fully Committed, Full Galop, three major Durang plays, and turns as artistic director at Huntington Theatre Company in Boston and then the Williamstown Theatre Festival. On full display are the production’s finely wrought scenery (David Korins), costumes (Emily Rebholz), lighting (Justin Townsend), and sprightly incidental music (Mark Bennett). The video was filmed and edited by Frank Basile of Fresh Produce Productions. While unintended for public display, it presents Vanya et al in first class manner.
The folks at Lincoln Center Theater have with their Private Reels series taken their professed mantra (“Good Plays/Popular Prices”) to Durang-edly absurdist lengths. With Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike we have a great play—or at least a great comic extravaganza—presented to the public for no price at all. Do grab it while you can, and watch out for the next outstanding offerings: Rachel Chavkin’s production of Marco Ramirez’s The Royale and Lila Neugebauer’s production of Sarah DeLappe’s The Wolves.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike was streamed starting March 18, 2021 and will remain online through April 11. Information and free streaming: lct.org
