Joanna Murray-Smith, who adapted Ibsen’s A Doll’s House for Ensemble Theatre not too long ago, returns and tackles another classic with much success: Anton Chekov’s Uncle Vanya. Having originated and reworked from one of Chekov’s earlier and unsuccessful plays called The Wood Demon, Uncle Vanya is once again finetuned to meet the demands of a contemporary audience. With the merging of a character here or there and the much needed updating of language, the complex themes of the play and the characters that feed into them are left untainted. This is ultimately a credit to Murray-Smith’s experience with adaptation.

The play’s simple premise involves a dilapidated country estate in 19^th century Russia, overwhelmed by eccentric characters who materialise the philosophical, moral and existential questions Chekov is so intrigued in across all his works. Uncle Vanya (Yalin Ozucelik) and niece Sonya (Abbey Morgan) have been taking care of the estate for a good part of their lives. But when the family patriarch Professor Serebryakov (David Lynch), accompanied by his much younger wife Yelena (Chantelle Jamieson), has other plans for the future of the estate, internal conflicts stir and erupt into the conversations of the estate’s inhabitants.

One liners become great revealers of these inner tensions, employing tools of self-deprecation, mockery, sarcasm and irony as a way of gradually exposing the characters. The complete lack of self-awareness, let alone awareness of others standing in the room, propel these lines to land smoothly with audiences who are ready to let it rip: “A woman like that has a moral obligation to cheat!” and “I’m a fucking legend when I’m drunk” are honourable mentions, but my favourite stems from the titular Uncle Vanya: “Perfect day for lynching oneself!”. The swift speed at which this dialogue is launched at characters establishes continuity for the overall sense of deterioration in the subtext of the play.

Thankfully, these undertones play out across a beautifully worn-out set; wooden panelling and mismatched furniture as well as accents of unpolished vintage silver décor and oil lamps create a ‘cabin-in-the-woods’ aesthetic without being too homey. Set and costume designer Nick Fry’s standout choice was the touch of creeping vines enclosing on the walls of the estate, something I would’ve liked to even see more of to enhance the sense of suffocation felt by many of Chekov’s characters.

Despite being an extremely well-cast production – ranging from the likes of theatre A-lister John Gaden and personal actor favourite of mine Chantelle Jamieson - Ozucelik’s Uncle Vanya was by far the most captivating on stage. From the first moment to the last, Ozucelik’s presence is akin to a rollercoaster, seamlessly moving between the comedic and dramatic moments of the script to best respond to other actor-character’s dialogue on stage. His chameleonic versatility ranges from his expertise in physical comedy to his heartfelt monologues. But neither overpowers the other, instead balanced and adept to working with the script and team, rather than against them. Ozucelik’s name is one to look out for as theatre companies start to reveal their 2025 seasons, including Ensemble Theatre’s announcement later this month.

As conversations of classics vs contemporary continue to storm our classrooms and the arts scene, this rendition of one of Chekov’s most well-known plays offers a neatly packaged compromise: why not keep the classics with their tried-and-true contents but revamp them slightly from time to time as we see fit? Uncle Vanya has done exactly this, meaning it will be enjoyed by staunch early modernism supporters but also by those worn out by older texts. It is a real triumph to balance both demographics, and I congratulate the Uncle Vanya team for achieving this.

Uncle Vanya is playing at Ensemble Theatre between 26 Jul - 31 Aug 2024. Playwave tickets can be purchased here.

Production images by Prudence Upton.