Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is at Seventh and Jordan in a well paced and nicely reflective production at IU's Wells-Metz Theatre. Christopher Durang describes his writing process as "putting Chekhov through a blender." The Tony Award winning play is named for characters in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters with a reference to his The Seagull.
The Wells-Metz is arranged for a thrust stage with Alana Yurczyk's attractive large sky-lighted day room as the single set. Actors exit and enter from a kitchen in the back or through the audience to bedrooms on the left or the pond on the right.
Justino Brokaw is a nicely frumpy and wistful Vanya. Like Chekhov's Vanya, he's a man in his fifties. Chekhov's Sonia is Vanya's young niece, but Durang in his freedom makes her an adopted sister of about Vanya's same age. Tara Chiusano was an attractive figure as the vulnerable Sonia. The two bicker back and forth almost more out habit than to any purpose.
Onto the scene comes sister Masha, a flamboyant Abby Lee. Chekhov's Masha is a married woman in her twenties who trained as a classical pianist. Durang's Masha is a film actor with a wildly successful series of five very financially successful, trashy movies and five divorces. Masha sometimes laments that they took her from an at least semiserious desire to be a classic stage actor.
Masha brings her new love, the youthfully clueless Spike, Robert Toms. Spike is a wannabe actor with a well stuffed cod piece and a penchant for taking off his clothes. Toms is a very flexible Spike.
Completing the cast of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike are Cassandra the cleaning lady and psychic and Nina the innocent beauty from next door. Brianna Milan was a spirited player as Cassandra. Like her namesake she rapturously predicts the future with a wildly garbled mix of references to Greek classics and Hollywood films. Talia Santia's graceful Nina is the closest thing to what might considered normal in Durang's menagerie.
Things come to a head as Masha announces that she's decided to sell the house, but suggests that everyone forget about it for a bit as they head off to a costume party. She's going as Snow White with Spike as Prince Charming and she's determined that Vanya and Sonia will be her Dwarves. Vanya agrees, insisting only on being Doc instead of Grumpy. Sonia rebels and dresses beautifully as the Evil Queen. The agreeable Nina is saddled with the outsized costume for Dopey.
The aftermath of the party is mixed. No one at the party recognized Masha's Snow White and she's devastated. Meanwhile Sonia, channeling Maggie Smith in California Suite, has had a rare success that quite surprises her. Vanya is warmly encouraging and an amazed Sonia actually gets a phone call from a fellow party goer inviting her out on a date. Tara Chiusano's initially halting and then more secure performance on the telephone was quite moving.
The finale of the play is a reading of Vanya's futuristic play set after the destruction of the world. During it Spike starts texting and Vanya goes into a very impressive tirade about the virtues of the 50s when people licked stamps, had only three TV channels, were stimulated by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen and soothed by Perry Como. The list continued for a while and I'll bet that except for Wednesday night's group from IU's Meadowood Retirement Community most missed many of them. As he wound down Vanya meekly allows that he's worried about the future and misses the past.
I won't give away the ending, but things do get sorted out and there's at least a modicum of calm and a bit of optimism as the show ends.
Jonathan Michaelsen is the skillful director. Varied costumes… ranging from Spike's torn jeans to Masha's Disney Snow White…are by Courtney Foxworthy. Original music is by Kyle Peter Rotolo.
Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike plays through October 29th at Seventh and Jordan in IU's Wells-Metz.
At the theatre for you, I'm George Walker