Visiting one of the final dress rehearsals for the “Vodka Variations,” one immediately gets the sense that a play of this size has not been performed in a while.
A spiral walkway acting as the major set piece coils around Culbreth Theatre, with just enough space for a live string quartet to sit in the middle. Actors in petticoats and thick Russian accents perform a dizzying waltz around the stage. Watching the rehearsal, one can get swept away in the whirlwind of emotions and whimsical, passionate characters who cry, then faint, then dance, then laugh at themselves.
“It’s a huge production. I’ve never worked on something so ambitious before,” actor Evan Bergman, a College graduate student, said.
Rightly so — as the “Vodka Variations” is not simply one play, but a compilation of at least 10 Anton Chekhov short stories. The production balances multiple storylines and characters to create “variations” on a theme of Chekhov’s early works. The composite work, compiled and directed by Assoc. Drama Prof. Marianne Kubik, is meant to be a celebration of Chekhov and his ability find humor in humanity.
“I hope we all take away an evening to laugh and have fun [in] recognition of our own ridiculousness in the characters we meet, and an appreciation of a time period and culture unlike our own, but very real and vibrant,” she said.
Kubik said she was drawn to Chekhov for his humor and comedy in the face of anger and passion.
“I like playwrights who aren’t afraid to laugh at people and at life,” she said. “I’ve always found Chekhov’s objective observations about human nature charming.”
Compiling the various short stories was certainly not an easy process.
“I read at least 100 of his short, comedic stories, looking for stories that were immediately compelling, and with a lot of action or dialogue,” Kubik said. “After I made a short list of 30, I spent a few months imagining each story in action on a stage, and speaking the text aloud to hear the characters. I narrowed it down to about 15 stories and started writing, letting the ones that emerged the fastest help guide me in my choices.”
Actors would like to see the audience walk away amused by the performance.
“I hope they can laugh at the human condition,” Bergman said.
College graduate student Roger Ainslie recalled a quote by Chekhov which encapsulating the show: “Any idiot can face a crisis; it’s this day-to-day living that wears you out. It’s about the struggle of everyday interactions with people.’”
The show is the first Drama Department production of the spring semester and should be a robust, vibrant beginning to a promising drama season. It opens Feb. 19 and runs through Feb. 28. Tickets are available now through the University Arts Box Office.
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