Shaw Festival cast shines brightly in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya

There is not a lot of levity in the current Shaw Festival production of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya; in fact, I don't recall ever seeing a production of Uncle Vanya that managed to break more than an occasional smile.

I've seen a few productions over the years, including several at Shaw and going back to the 80s in Toronto when Peter O'Toole appeared in a touring production that played the Royal Alex.

This new adaptation of Uncle Vanya is by Anne Baker, working with a literal translation by Margarita Shalina and the original Russian text.

To put it mildly, this is a pretty grim play with grim characters in a grim country estate and, well, things don't get much better after you sit through the better part of three hours of Uncle Vanya.

That being said, there is an awful lot to recommend this current production, on stage at the cosy Court House Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake until September 11th.  First and foremost, the cast assembled by Artistic Director and the director of Uncle Vanya, Jackie Maxwell is absolutely first-rate.

The two standouts in the production are Neil Barclay as Uncle Vanya, and Moya O'Connell as Yelena Andreyevna.  Barclay finally breaks free from the supporting roles he has so ably been cast in for several seasons and gives a wonderful performance in the pivotal role.  Vanya is infatuated with Yelena, the wife of Serebryakov, played by Shaw mainstay David Schurmann.

Yelena is much younger than her doddering old husband, a fact that does not escape the wandering eye of Vanya, who basically calls it a tragedy her beauty is wasted on the old man.  As Yelena, O'Connell infuses the role with as much grace as can be mustered in such a grim existence, and it is easy to see why Vanya is so taken by her.  But she, alas, has little or no interest in Vanya.

As her older husband Serebryakov, David Schurmann plays a role we don't often see him in:  not a debonair and dashing society gent akin to a Fred Astaire, but rather an old, worn-out and dependent professor who has the great good fortune of having a younger trophy wife by his side.

The rest of the supporting cast is equally as impressive, including Sharry Flett as solid as ever as Marina; Patrick McManus in the role of Astrov, the hard-drinking doctor; Marla McLean as Sonya and Donna Belleville as Vanya's mother Maria.

The characters talk to each other and yes, they do argue, but rarely do they actually communicate with each other.  The appearance of a gun later in the play livens things up a bit but just adds to the tension in the estate.  All in all, they are not a bunch of happy campers.

It appears Jackie Maxwell has been saving Uncle Vanya for this, her final season at the helm of the Shaw Festival.  While it may not be her best effort at Shaw, the cast she has assembled raises the bar for ensemble acting and taking a rather plodding script and elevating it to the point the play becomes highly recommendable this season.

Granted, it is not the happiest production at the Shaw this season, but if you want to see an exceptional cast make a play come alive, this might just work for you.

Uncle Vanya continues at the Court House Theatre until September 11th and rates a respectable 3 out of 4 stars.

August 6th, 2016.