Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike - 4 out of 5 stars
Adelaide University Theatre Guild
TICKETS: https://www.trybooking.com/au/event/1476483
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is Christopher Durang’s 2013 comedy: a Chekhov-inspired family satire about three middle-aged siblings whose long-buried resentments erupt during a weekend at their Pennsylvania farmhouse. Durang borrows the names Vanya, Sonia, and Masha from Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya and The Three Sisters, but places them in a contemporary American comic framework.
Their parents named them after these Chekhov characters as a
tongue-in-cheek moment, and the play deliberately mixes Chekhovian themes of
inertia, longing, family property, and missed opportunities with farce, pop
culture, and humour. The result is less a parody of Chekhov than a playful
modern answer to him: these characters still yearn, argue, and face the passage
of time, but they do so through costume parties, prophecies, celebrity culture,
and comic rants.
Vanya and Sonia, both in their fifties, have spent much of
their adult lives caring for their late parents and remain in the family home,
financially dependent on their sister Masha, a movie star who owns the house.
Their quiet, regretful routine is disrupted when Masha arrives with Spike, her
much younger, self-absorbed boyfriend, and announces that she may sell the
property. The play unfolds over one weekend as sibling rivalry, romantic
jealousy, ageing, money, and the fear of having missed one’s life collide.
Director Hayley Horton guides the production with a clear
understanding of the play’s delicate balance between farce and feeling. She
allows the comedy to land with confidence, particularly in the heightened
sibling sparring, Masha and Spike’s outrageous physicality, and Cassandra’s
theatrical prophecies, without losing sight of the loneliness and regret
beneath the humour.
Horton draws strong, contrasting performances from her cast, ensuring each character has a distinct comic rhythm while contributing to the emotional through-line. Her pacing keeps the action lively across the single weekend setting, and her handling of the play’s more reflective moments gives that undercurrent genuine weight.
Vanya, a resigned, thoughtful writer who has settled into a
narrow life but is quietly storing years of frustration, is played by Gary
George. While his work throughout this production is top-notch and full of
quality moments, attention must be drawn to what feels like a 10-minute-long monologue.
This is perhaps the play’s most famous moment when Spike texts during a reading
of Vanya’s new play. It begins as a comic complaint about modern technology and
expands into a lament for lost attention, shared culture, and a vanished sense
of the past. As famous as the moment may be, it tests the audience’s patience
with its length.
Sonia, Vanya’s adopted sister, is anxious, bitter, and
painfully aware of the life she feels she never had – and Kate Anolak portrays
these qualities wonderfully. Grounding Sonia’s resentment and self-pity in a
recognisable vulnerability, Anolak ensures that even in her most prickly
performance, the character remains sympathetic rather than difficult. These
traits provide rich fodder for comedy, and Anolak delivers it to the nines,
finding sharp laughs in Sonia’s deadpan despair and sudden bursts of
indignation. She gives Sonia a compelling emotional arc, allowing the humour to
sit comfortably alongside the character’s genuine loneliness and longing,
having the audience rooting for her date.
Masha, the glamorous yet deeply insecure movie-star sister
who left home, achieved fame, and now returns with money, drama, and an
ultimatum, is brought vividly to life by Helen Geoffreys. Geoffreys captures
Masha’s larger-than-life presence with confidence, presenting her as a woman
accustomed to being admired, indulged, and centre stage. Yet beneath the
designer glamour and theatrical entrances, she also reveals Masha’s fragility:
her need for validation, her fear of ageing, and her uneasy awareness that fame
has not delivered the emotional security she craves. Her performance balances
comic flamboyance with genuine pathos, making Masha both exasperating and
unexpectedly sympathetic.
Spike, Masha’s twenty-something lover, is an attractive
aspiring actor whose vanity and phone use become catalysts for conflict. Jalen
Berry portrays him with fearless comic commitment; a promotional image shared
before opening offered an early insight into his willingness to embrace the
role’s physicality. The copious displays of PDA between Spike and Masha are
either entertaining or awkward to watch—sometimes both—and audience members
seated close to the stage may find themselves drawn into the action. As a budding shining light, Berry’s
character choices, at times reminiscent of Rocky in The Rocky Horror Picture
Show, provide plenty of comic moments.
Cassandra, the siblings’ cleaning lady and comic prophet
figure, gives Bonnie McAllister excellent opportunities to showcase the breadth
of her acting ability. Embracing the character’s theatrical warnings and
voodoo-like predictions with both hands, McAllister delivers a performance that
is consistently enjoyed by the audience.
Nina, the neighbours’ idealistic young niece who wants to
act and becomes an unexpected emotional foil for the older characters, is
superbly portrayed by Astrid Teague. Teague gives Nina an intense curiosity
about the family, always appearing to listen actively before responding with
warmth and sincerity. Her “happy to be here” attitude is heartwarming and
provides a lovely counterpoint to the siblings’ entrenched frustrations.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is an emotionally
driven comedy, and this production captures both its laughter and its
underlying melancholy. The numerous nods to Chekhov will tickle the theatre
nerd. These allusions deepen the humour rather than distract from it, giving
the sibling rivalries, regrets, and longings a richer dramatic foundation.
Despite a few minor hiccups, this is a well-rounded
performance from the entire cast. Vanya, Sonia, Masha, and Spike may be the
titular characters, but the supporting roles are no less important or integral
to the story; each contributes meaningfully to the play’s emotional texture and
comic momentum. In short, it is Uncle Vanya by way of a Hollywood
weekend: very funny on the surface, but ultimately about siblings trying to
work out whether it is too late to be seen, loved, and useful.
- Andrew Broadbent
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