Interview: Kristine Nielsen's Sibling Revelry

Kristine Nielsen, the Sonia of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, brings the comedic timing of Lucille Ball to the Broadway hit that just won the Tony for Best Play.

Whether moping and bemoaning her life dressed in her ever-present frumpy p.j.'s, or dolled up like Dame Maggie Smith in a sequined teal ball gown and tiara, Nielsen can't help but smack the audience's collective funny bone in every scene she's in.

The story hinges on the oldest sister, Masha (Sigourney Weaver), a narcissistic movie star (is there any other kind?) who returns to the childhood home in Bucks County. She is toting her latest boy toy, the hyperkinetic Spike (Billy Magnussen), who practically bounces off the walls and annoys all but Masha.

Masha's purpose in returning is to sell the homestead and abandon her siblings, Vanya (David Hyde Pierce) and Sonia, who have no marketable skills aside from having dedicated their lives to their ailing parents.

Masha, facing a future as an aging Hollywood star, steels herself for what roles might come next: character parts or even (shock) someone's grandmother! Christopher Durang's book is a delicious stew of the human condition with all its warts and newts. (Maybe that's why he enlists the voodoo-practicing housekeeper Cassandra, played archly by Shalita Grant.)

"We approach the material with deadly seriousness," said Nielsen. "That's the only way to do it justice. We're lucky the material is so funny.

"I've found that the harder you cry in a comedy the more people laugh," she said. "The focus of the play is not so much a parody of Chekhov, but using it as a great role model for this story."

Sonia, a woman of a certain age, has never married or held a responsible job except that of her parents' caretaker along with brother Vanya. So when Masha arrives and reveals her plans, more than just words are tossed across stage. Sometimes a cup or two goes flying by as well.

"What's fun is that Sonia always sees the cup half empty-which is not how I see the world-but it's fun to put that on, and David and I play very well off of each other," she said.

The relationship between Sonia and Vanya is complex but always infused with devotional love. "I have a more overt comedy in this play but he has a wonderful deadpan, and this combination works brilliantly," she said.

"The first act introduces all the characters including Cassandra, a very funny housekeeper who happens to be trained in the supernatural," Nielsen said. "She is an absolute gift.

"Once the actors and exposition are set up then it's like jumping off a cliff," she said. "I don't know if it's right or wrong, but we just try. It's such a great cast, no one lets anyone fall-they catch you."

Before the play came to Broadway it was rehearsed in Princeton, away from critical New York eyes. "We lived there, we ate together, we watched 'Old Yeller' together." (The boy-and-his-dog classic figures prominently in a hilarious Vanya rant.)

"We got to know each other in a very special way," Nielsen said. "It was a safe place, just great. People there left us alone and there were no crazy fans or paparazzi. Not even the students were there, so we had great energy to explore our parts in a very safe environment. And it added another layer to the play."

Nielsen has worked with Durang five times and each collaboration was eye-opening. "I think Chris is a very precise writer," she said. "He allows for invention of some kind, but the story is such a wonderful play you don't really need it."

She is heartened that so many people are getting to see Durang's work. "Chris is a non-generational writer, he's an anarchy writer. And the audience can see the pain he's writing about through us, not just in specific things. And kids even get it-the loss and fear that make up each one of us."

"This play has a very American voice," Nielsen said. "Chris has his ear to the ground. The things he writes about seem to happen-climate change, Cassandra's predictions and so on."

And Sonia's relationship with Vanya is coated with love and care, she said. "I feel that Vanya is very much my older brother and protector and I cling to him and need him. He tries to lighten my despair and self pity. He's my safe haven."

The climactic event of the play is a costume party that Masha tries desperately to micro-manage so that she will be the fairest of them all (her costume is Snow White). But when Sonia comes out of her shell with the help of Dame Maggie Smith, all hell breaks loose.

Anyone who has muddled relations with siblings, parents, housekeepers and questionable love interests will get this play, Nielsen said.

"I have a good time," she said, " I finally climb out of my little shell and for once in my life, there's hope!"

VANYA and SONIA and MASHA and SPIKE is playing at the Golden Theatre, 252 West 45th Street, through Aug. 25.