In a year when Melbourne Theatre Company has committed to programming mostly new works by local writers, this production of Uncle Vanya by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov bucks that trend a little bit – with a new adaptation by world-renowned Aussie writer, Joanna Murray-Smith.
Murray-Smith has dedicated much of her career to analysing the frailties and blind spots of middle-class Australians and is perfectly suited to tackle this particular Chekhov adaptation – freely adding in the occasional f-word and making concrete the comedy in a play that focuses a lot on boredom.
A play about boredom? Is it a bore?
Chekhov’s work has lived in a complicated space between comedy and tragedy and each production has to give his text a tweak to figure out where it will land each time.
Murray-Smith turns up the comedy, without losing sight of the inherent drama, while also giving female characters like Yelena and Sonya more clear interior lives and agency than the original suggests. This version of the play is masterful, crafting a new vision, without compromising what Chekhov was exploring.
Uncle Vanya focuses on the owners and managers of a Russian estate, dissecting the deep-seated feeling they have wasted their lives. Enter Yelena, married to esteemed professor Alexandre Serebryakov, whose first wife used to own the home. Vanya, brother to Alexandre’s first wife and manager of the estate, and local doctor, Astrov, fall for Yelena and try to seduce her in an attempt to add some excitement to their mundane daily routine.
So, a Russian play about two bored middle-aged men lusting after a younger woman?
It’s only about that on the very surface. For a play that first premiered in 1899, Uncle Vanya has a lot of the current political landscape on its mind.
The older characters’ fears of having wasted their lives feeds into thoughts about legacy and what we leave behind for following generations. By the end, the play digs into the feeling of how lost we can become when things both internal and external change so quickly. If you wonder if this old play still speaks to us, the answer is very definitely yes.
Who else is involved in bringing Uncle Vanya back to life?
MTC artistic director Anne-Louise Sarks is at the helm, bringing her usual clarity to a dense text. Sarks and Murray-Smith’s work go hand-in-hand to take us back in time while rooting things in the now.
Dann Barber gives us a cluster of poplar trees and a set on wheels to keep us inside and outside the estate at all times. His costumes evoke the period, but don’t feel so bound to history. Paul Jackson’s lighting design is moody, suggesting an oppressiveness that settles over the house throughout the play.
And who is on stage?
Philippa Northeast, who will soon be seen as Sybylla in Netflix’s new adaptation of My Brilliant Career, appears as Sonya and steals every scene that she’s in. Her longing for Astrov is palpable and hilarious, and the story really is from her point of view. Vanya is uncle to her and no one else on stage, so she’s the key to getting through all this misery.
Catherine Văn-Davies is Yelena and her work with Northeast, particularly near the end of act one, is comedy gold. Theatre stalwarts Evelyn Krape and Don Bridges bring vivaciousness to the comical pair of Nanny and Telyeghin, lightening an increasingly tense mood. Shaun Micallef gives a strikingly pompous performance as Alexandre. His role is little more than a cameo, but he’s wonderful in the part.
Fayssal Bazzi (brilliant in MTC’s Much Ado About Nothing last year) is Astrov, a man passionate for his work as a doctor and the environment. As he woos Yelena and ardently describes his love of the woods, Bazzi finds a way for him to be endearing and ridiculous.
Perhaps suffering from opening night nerves, Daniel Henshall stumbled occasionally in the role of Vanya. He found his groove in the second half, but it was a shame there was so much hesitation in his performance as the titular character.
Is this Russian comic tragedy worth seeing?
It is! Yes, the central premise might be as depressing as hell, but the main drive of the story is how we find our way through a pile-up of family drama in an increasingly bleak world. There’s enough comedy to find that light in the darkness. But sometimes it’s good to sit in that darkness, too.
Melbourne Theatre Company's 'Uncle Vanya' is on now at Arts Centre Melbourne until August 22, 2026. For more information and to book tickets, head to the website.
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