Review: VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE Centers on a Family Reunion You Don't Want to Miss!

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE by Christopher Durang won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for the Broadway production of this show. Having never seen the comedy before, I was thrilled to find out a production was taking place at the Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica and rushed to arrange my tickets. And now I can understand why the show got so many rave reviews in the past and am happy to add mine to them.

This hilarious comedy opens as we meet Vanya (Brian Drillinger) and his adopted sister, Sonia (Michelle Danner, Founding Director of the Edgemar Center for the Arts), who live a quiet life together in the Pennsylvania farmhouse where they grew up, while their more flamboyant sister Masha (Christine Dunford) travels the world as a movie star. Just as their cleaning woman Cassandra (Tamika Katon-Donegal who adds a wonderful bit of spice to her every scene), an appropriate name for a Jamaican psychic who no believes, issues a warning about terrible events in their future, Masha returns for an unannounced visit with her 20-something boy toy Spike (Nate Golon who turns taking his shirt and/or jeans off into several show-stopping moments), revealing plans to sell the family home.

And so begins this unforgettable family reunion filled with rivalry, regret, and lots of racket, especially when Nina (Remy Nozik), a new neighbor, appears and threatens to upset the family's balance. All allusions to Chekhov and his plays such as The Cherry Orchard are purely intentional, with each reference generating knowing chuckles from the audience.

Self-centered Masha has been invited to a major high-powered Hollywood party taking place in the neighborhood close to her family home. Masha takes it upon herself to dress as Snow White (straight out of the Disney movie) and asks the others to dress as some of the Seven Dwarfs so she can be the center of attention. And while Vanya and Nina go along with her request, the lonely Sonia takes it upon herself to dress in a sequined gown, more like Gloria Swanson in her heyday rather than Snow White's evil Stepmother.

Danner realistically recounts the story from the viewpoint of a 52-year old and unmarried spinster who has experienced personal attention from a man for her looks for the very first time. But when her outfit steals all the attention from Masha, since many at the party are too young to know who Snow White was, Masha's jealous outrage causes her to reveal she needs to sell the family home in order to stay afloat financially. And of course, Spike, dressed as Prince Charming, sweeps Masha off her feet to try and calm her down in the only way he knows how! What a lucky girl she is, especially given their age difference and her insecurities about her looks.

Veteran actor and director Barbara Tarbuck has assembled a cast who has known and worked together for years, thus adding more realism to the story of family members who know and understand each other so well. Their ease with each other onstage was infectious, lending realism to family arguments that reveal just how much love really exists between the siblings. I guarantee many of their arguments will feel incredibly familiar to you, as no doubt the same conversations have taken place in your own life between you, your siblings, and most likely your significant others. At several times, I wondered if someone had taped conversations in my own home!

Production Designer Alessandra Manias and Producer Alexandra Guarrieri are to be commended for assembling a top-notch team, including evocative lighting design by Kyle McAnally, sound design by DJ Medina which included many totally appropriate songs including "Here Comes the Sun," A World Without Love," and "Witchy Woman," and comically appropriate costume design by Larae Mychel. Their combined efforts make this show a family reunion you definitely don't want to miss!

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE by Christopher Durang continues through December 11th 2016 on Fridays 8PM, Saturdays 8PM and Sundays 5PM (dark Nov. 24-27 for Thanksgiving weekend) at the Edgemar Center for the Arts' Alexander Theater, 2437 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405. Tickets are $35 general admission and may be purchased at the door, or reserved in advance by calling 310-392-7327 or online at www.edgemar.org.

Photos by Teferi Seifu

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