Uncle Vanya review – Toby Jones triumphs in perfect Chekhov

Harold Pinter theatre, London
Ian Rickson’s exquisite production is enlivened with expertly weighted humour and a modern beat

Last year, David Hare teamed up with Rupert Everett to stage an Uncle Vanya that drew much humour from out of the gloom. Everett claimed Chekhov wrote it as a comedy and played his buffoonish Vanya for laughs. What does Conor McPherson bring to this new adaptation? A different kind of laughter, it turns out: deeper, more poignant and perfectly weighted.

Ian Rickson’s exquisite production is full of energy despite the play’s prevailing ennui. It does not radically reinvent or revolutionise Chekov’s 19th-century story. It returns us to the great, mournful spirit of Chekhov’s tale about unrequited love, ageing and disappointment in middle-age, while giving it a sleeker, modern beat.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/36jdWLx