SITE GUIDE
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
On TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us
A CurtainUp New Jersey Review
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
|
If everyone took anti-depressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about. —Sonia,
|
Mark Nelson as Vanya
(Photo: Matthew Murphy)
|
To my utter amazement Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike found its way from the McCarter to the small Mitzi Newhouse Theatre in Lincoln Center (designated as an Off-Broadway theater) where its success there more than justified a further move to the John Golden Theatre on Broadway and where it earned numerous awards, including that of Best Play of the 2013 season.
Now the play has once again come under my reviewing radar at the Paper Mill Playhouse. It's interesting to see new productions bring subtle differences to the staging as is the case now.
Director Don Stephenson's direction and his cast make yet another viewing fairly pleasurable. There's plenty to applaud: the poignancy that stays prominently on the surface of Michele Pawk's bi-polar Sonia. . . the pathetic outbursts of Mark Nelson's unfulfilled playwright step-brother Vanya. . . the effusively melodramatic posturing of Carolyn McCormick's glamorous sister/actress Masha. . .the incorrigibly narcissistic posing of boy-toy Philippe Bowgen's Spike. . . the incredulous ranting of Gina Daniels' house-cleaning Cassandra . . . the demure yet dim loveliness of Jamie Ann Romero's girl-next-door/aspiring actress Nina. K
Keeping within the established parameter, Stephenson smartly gives the tremendously gifted Obie Award-winner Nelson the latitude to make Vanya's lengthy diatribe on how he "misses the past" a genuine heart-breaker. His production is also beautifully enhanced, as it has been since its McCarter premiere, with the stunning setting designed by David Korins and designer Leon Dobkowski's new array of whimsical costumes are an added visual treat.
I have great admiration for the scarily hilarious, joyously perverse socio-political rants that ignite so many of Durang's plays such as Miss Witherspoon , Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them , as well such early gems as The Marriage of Bette and Boo and Beyond Therapy (to cite a few). If I savor most the memory of his most gloriously deranged farce Betty's Summer Vacation , it is Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike that is also likely to linger on longer than I am willing to concede at this time.
Cast: Mark Nelson (Vanya), Michele Pawk (Sonia), Gina Daniels (Cassandra), Carolyn McCormick (Masha), Philippe Bowgen (Spike), Jamie Ann Romero (Nina).
Scenic Design: David Korins
Costume Design: Leon Dobkowski
Lighting Design (Stephen Terry
Original Music & Sound Design: Mark Bennett
Production Stage Manager: Gary Mickelson
Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes including intermission
Paper Mill Playhouse, 22 Brookside Drive, Millburn, NJ
973 - 315 - 1680 or www.PaperMill.org
Tickets: $28.00 - $99.00
Performances: Wednesday at 7:30 pm Thursday at 1:30 and 7:30 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 1:30 and 8 pm, and Sunday at 1:30 and 7 pm.
From 01/21 Opened 01/25/15 Ends 02/15/15
Review by Simon Saltzman based on performance 01/25/15
|
Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe,
E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com
put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. For a feed to reviews and features as they are posted add http://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com to your reader Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): >Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email and state if you'd like your comments published in our letters section. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. You can also contact us at Curtainup at Facebook or Curtainup at Twitter |
|
Book of Mormon -CDOur review of the show
Slings & Arrows-the complete set
You don't have to be a Shakespeare aficionado to love all 21 episodes of this hilarious and moving Canadian TV series about a fictional Shakespeare Company
