Uncle Vanya (edit title)

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Liked It 5 of 5 members found this review helpful Rated 5 stars “Vanya is the epitome of the Chekhovian hero. He is dutiful, decent, ineffectual, and gnawingly aware that he has wasted his life. He is in love with a woman he cannot possibly attain. He has devoted his life’s energy to advancing the career of a fraud. He has nothing he can call his own. He...” see full review » see other reviews »

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  5 of 5 members found this review helpful

  • Rated 5 stars

  “Vanya is the epitome of the Chekhovian hero. He is dutiful, decent, ineffectual, and gnawingly aware that he has wasted his life. He is in love with a woman he cannot possibly attain. He has devoted his life’s energy to advancing the career of a fraud. He has nothing he can call his own. He is middle-aged and there is no possibility of change. Sounds dreary? In Chekhov’s hands, it’s bittersweet comedy at its most subtle.
  
  I have had the good fortune to see this play performed twice onstage – once starring Sir Derek Jacobi and the other Simon Russell Beale. And then there is the transcendent Louis Malle/Andre Gregory film of the play, called “Vanya on 42nd Street,” with a shattering performance by Wallace Shawn. Vanya is the greatest male role Chekhov ever wrote – sad, funny, pathetic, endearing. As he makes his last desperate attempt to become the hero of his own life, he is all of us.
  ”

  Lord Manleigh wrote this review Tuesday, October 9 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No