BWW Reviews: VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE Check Off a Hit

Acclaimed American playwright Christopher Durang is well known for his absurd and often outrageous humor, and his VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, winner of a Tony Award in 2013 for Best Play, is no exception. An engaging farce with a somewhat surprising degree of sentiment at its core, this darkish comedy sends up the classic work of Anton Chekhov while also countering it with a kind of cock-eyed optimism. This Trustus Theatre's production, in the capable hands of director Jim O'Connor and well-modulated cast, just completed its first week's run and happily will be playing for another two weeks. There are plenty of in-jokes for theatre majors and the cognoscenti, but the uninitiated can also enjoy the modern comedy and unexpected charm that infuses Durang's take on a very idiosyncratic family whose caricatured members are yet familiar to us. Who can't appreciate a fairy tale (not so sub) subtext where Snow White and the Evil Queen are really their opposites and ugly ducklings become swans, or at least happier wild turkeys?

The names Vanya and Sonia and Masha are right at home in Chekhov, but rather more unusual as a trio of American siblings adopted by college professors who took their community theatre affiliation a little too seriously. The parents now deceased, 50-something perennial children Vanya (Glenn Rawls) and Sonia (Dewey Scott-Riley) live in the family home in tony Bucks County, PA, while Masha (Vicky Saye Henderson) has gone on to fame (or perhaps infamy) and fortune as an actress best known for starring in a string of "Sexy Killer" movies. Masha, the survivor of five failed marriages, sustained by her own narcissism, sweeps in on Vanya and Sonia with boy-toy and clueless actor Spike (Jimmy Wall) in tow, with a plan to have them all attend a celebrity-heavy neighborhood costume party. Masha, always in self-serving control, plans to go as Snow White, with her lover as a scantily-clothed Prince Charming and her siblings as two of the attendant dwarves. The plan starts to go awry as a lovely and star-struck young neighbor, Nina (Stephanie Walden) enters their midst and gets pulled into the shenanigans, (settling for a dwarf costume). Further foiling the scheme, sadsack Sonia reinvents herself as the Evil Queen as played by Maggie Smith, replete with glamorous wardrobe and fabulous accent. This remarkable household also employs a prognosticating, over-the-top cleaning lady, Cassandra (Ellen Rodillo-Fowler), who lives up to her name by tossing out dire predictions, which include Marsha's plot to sell the house and break up the cozily empty life Vanya and Sonia have shared. It is hardly a shock that nothing goes as planned, and that relationships are resorted and redefined. Durang does take a long time to do this, though; a running time of over 2 ½ hours is long for a modern non-musical, and the first act drags in places. The second act, punctuated by a number of shorter scenes, is sprightlier, barreling towards an optimistic and boomer-friendly conclusion.

O'Connor has cast the show well, and the broad acting style certainly provokes outright laughs. Scott-Riley's Sonia is a particular standout, her facial expressions often prompting more guffaws than the lines themselves. But she also shows a delicate and winsome subtlety in a telephone monologue that clearly resonates with anyone who has overcome self-doubt (which would be, gauging by the audience reaction, everyone). Plus, she does a killer Maggie Smith. Rawls' Vanya is an endearing social klutz who nevertheless treasures the warmth of memory and true contact over the crass coldness of social media and labeled friends who are anything but. Henderson's excellent comic timing presents a Masha who is a diva's diva (she doth protest Norma Desmond too much), but has, beneath layers of baser metals, a heart of gold. Rodillo-Flower nearly steals the show as Cassandra, all portents of mayhem wrapped in mojo. Trustus newcomers Walden and Wall effectively bring two sides of youth, innocence and callousness, to propel the middle-aged family members to action and balance. The unit set is well-dressed, even down to a clock that seems perpetually frozen in time, just like the characters, and the lighting and staging give us clear sightlines throughout. The music of the great Russian masters is also effectively used to further the Chekhovian theme, though at times could be toned down a notch.

We haven't even hit the winter blues yet, but this production of VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE will keep them at bay proactively with a few hours in a (sort of) cherry orchard. Go, enjoy.

Photo Credit: Richard Kiraly

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