Review: VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, Charing Cross Theatre

It's diminutive to say that a lot has changed in the past nine years. What are we even saying, a lot has changed in the last two alone! After Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike premiered in New Jersey in 2012, it went on to open on Broadway the following year and won a coveted Tony Award for Best Play. In 2019, Christopher Durang's piece had its debut overseas in Bath with a subsequent London run scheduled for March 2020. We all know what happened next and why we had to wait to see it.

Eight years after its New York crowning and one and a half from its original anticipated production, the show's finally opened at the Charing Cross Theatre. Directed by Walter Bobbie, it's a shame that this take makes it difficult to recognise what Tony voters saw in it back then that spurred them to give it such a high honour.

Vanya and his adoptive sister Sonia live a secluded and codependent life in the Pennsylvania countryside, having spent 15 years taking care of their late parents. As their successful sister Masha comes back home unexpectedly with her toy boy, age-old arguments are stirred with an allegedly Chekhovian look at life and growing old ensuing immediately.

The cast is fantastic. The rest... less so, generally speaking. Multi-Olivier Award winner Janie Dee is exquisite as the boastful actress with a penchant for dramatics. She is the picture of wealth as she struts across top-billed Broadway designer David Korins's stage.

The bickering and plain homebodies are delightfully played by Michael Maloney and Rebecca Lacey. Charlie Maher and Lukwesa Mwamba are Spike and Nina, the younger members of this storm-in-a-teacup and, respectively, Masha's hot airhead boyfriend and the local ingenue.

But the true star of the show is Sara Powell. She's Cassandra, the cleaner who offers Vanya and Sonia muddled but scarily accurate prophecies on a daily basis. She's hilarious as she embellishes Greek tragedies to fit them to their situation and comments on Masha's ridiculous behaviour.

Right underneath the stellar cast lies a camp production that's mainly out of touch with reality. Chekhov's themes couldn't be more straightforward. Just in case all the references aren't obvious enough, the characters bring up the Russian playwright and his works plenty of times anyway lest the audience isn't already savvy. The script doesn't leave much room for subtlety.

Sonia's envy has been festering for her whole life, but it explodes when Masha shows up unannounced. She thinks her sister stole her potential by living lavishly away from their dying parents. She begrudges her five failed marriages and all the attention she gets as a D-list celebrity. At the same time, Masha doesn't do much to be liked by the other two. Vanya is the most sensible, but most spineless of the trio. Suddenly defined by his sexuality when met by Spike, he ends up going on a rant explaining how wrong the new generations are living.

The gags are largely dull, snide, sarcastic comments usually aimed at Masha's inaccessible and self-absorbed view of the world. The commentary on fame and age is only a byproduct of the contrast with the siblings and states nothing more than the obvious. As their rivalry develops into a humdrum of repetitive jokes, one can't help but feel like there's lots of satire and social commentary buried underneath a load of mundane American humour. It's a shame Bobbie doesn't do much with it.

All in all, the play's alright. While it promises big laughs and only collects cheap chuckles instead, the performances alone are worth it. Ultimately, it feels like the material can be used to make a bigger statement than "fame is as bad as old age, young people, and modernity".

Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike runs at the Charing Cross Theatre until 8 January.

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

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