
Uncle Vanya
BY ANTON CHEKHOV
TRANSLATED BY CURT COLUMBUS
DIRECTED BY KIMBERLY SENIOR
Feb 20, 2010–Mar 27, 2010
3829 N. Broadway
Vanya thought he could be content living vicariously through his brother-in-law’s academic triumphs and managing that brother-in-law’s rural estate. But when the professor abruptly retires and forces his excessively young second wife to give up the pleasures of Moscow for a life on the farm, her intoxicating beauty and talent for sitting around all day cause the smooth routine of hard work to erupt with sex, violence, and other inappropriate behaviors.
“… this pointed, powerful Uncle Vanya (translated by Curt Columbus) stands on its own, maintaining a fine balance between hilarity and profundity and marking director Kimberly Senior as one of the best interpreters of Chekhov in these parts. Tom Hickey plays Vanya with an acerbic relish that never loses sight of the middle-aged bachelor’s anguish, and Michaela Petro’s spitfire Sonya may be the most heartbreaking take I’ve seen on this most heartbreaking of all characters.”
— Chicago Reader
““Suffering should be presented as it is expressed in life: not via arms and legs but through tone and expression,” Chekhov wrote. His exhortation for the natural depiction of the human condition onstage is stunningly realized in Senior’s rather dark production of Columbus’s blunt, droll translation. Varying shades of misery, from taut repression to slaphappy bromides, are subtly treated by director and the Strawdog team, now old hands at displaying the comedy of “real life” that Chekhov demanded of the theater. That approach is reinforced by Tom Burch’s exquisite set design, inspired by artist Joseph Cornell: The characters’ litany of grievances bounces off shadow-box walls, their shelves lined with dried and bottled ephemera of life passed by… Tom Hickey, who attacks with viper-like precision as a gloomy, acerbic Vanya, leads a skillful cast, including Kyle Hamman’s wry doctor (and proto-environmentalist) Astrov, Michaela Petro’s wild-eyed Sonya, and Shannon Hoag, luminous as the “beautifully idle” Yelena, who locates the darkness beneath her utter boredom. Their messy interactions add up to beautiful Chekhovian chaos and demonstrate that suffering is easier than changing. In Senior’s hands, the stagnant life in Uncle Vanya is both recognizable and compelling.”
— Time Out Chicago
Cast

Tim Curtis
as Serebrykov

Ryan Patrick Dolan
as Yefim

Patricia Donegan
as Marina

Carmine Grisolia*
as Telegin (Waffles)

Kyle Hamman*
as Astrov

Tom Hickey
as Vanya

Shannon Hoag*
as Yelena

Michaela Petro
as Sonya
Creative Team
Anton Chekhov
Author
Curt Columbus
Translator
Kimberly Senior
Assistant Director
Danni Parpan
Set Design
Tom Burch
Set Design
Sean T. Mallary
Light Design
Jordan Kardasz*
Ass't Light Design
Aly Renee Amidei*
Costume Design
D.J. Reed
Props Design
Mikhail Fiksel
Sound Design
Mike Mroch
Dramaturge
Ellen Willett
Stage Manager
* Strawdog Theatre ensemble member