"They're gone."
Several characters in the drama department's production of Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" repeat this seemingly superficial line after two friends move to another town. Although the play fails to completely captivate the audience, the statement's simple sentiment resonates as its characters lament the years, opportunities and joys that are gone for good.
Chekhov's work is full of similar subtleties: On one level, the play feels fairly straightforward and mundane; on another, it richly reflects the nuances of human life and emotion.
However, this production loses some of the profundity that Chekhov intended. As with any translation, some depth and detail is missing in Paul Schmidt's modernized version. And although the cast adequately executes the script, it cannot compensate for what is lost in the shuffle.
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Set in turn-of-the-century Russia, the play follows a handful of characters through a single season of their lives. A sickly, disgruntled professor (Christopher Van Cleave) and his alluring second wife Yeléna (Laura Tetlow), have moved in with - and disrupted the lives of - young Sónya (Sarah Drew), the professor's daughter from a previous marriage, and her Uncle Vanya (Daniel S. Perez). An aging doctor, Mikhaíl Lvóvich Ástrov (Jason Kehler), is the family's long-term houseguest and acts as both a friend and lurking antagonist.
Each character has a tragic flaw of sorts - self-proclaimed imperfections that inhibit them from feeling entirely fulfilled. The play's onstage action focuses on the interplay of these disappointments. With this emphasis on internal character development, "Vanya" perhaps would be more effective as a novel than a dialogue-driven theatrical piece.
But the cast appears surprisingly undaunted by the material, due in part to Schmidt's translation. Perez's performance in the title role captures the play's pairing of simplicity with complexity. As his character increases in depth, so does Perez's acting - evidenced by progressively detailed gestures and facial expressions.
Kehler executes his role as the doctor to the best of his physical ability. But even so, Kehler seems poorly cast in the role. He appears too young and lively for his role - a discrepancy even a pasted-on mustache can't reconcile.
Van Cleave's incorrigible interpretation of the professor allows the audience little sympathy for his character; he offers a powerful presentation but perhaps not the one Chekhov would have hoped for.
As Sónya, Drew initially seems to be stuck on overly careful enunciation, but she warms up to become one of the production's most convincing characters. Similarly, Tetlow's performance of Yeléna is fairly static at first, as the script requires, but both the character and Tetlow's acting deepen as the action progresses.
In addition, Bloom's masterfully crafted set perfectly enhances the script's effective simplicity. Long, bare branches stretch from floor to ceiling, mirroring the sense of yearning in the character's experience.
"Uncle Vanya," which continues its run at the Culbreth Theatre Thursday through Saturday, is not the most engaging or entertaining play to ever grace the stage. The actors adequately communicate this translation of Chekhov's script, but they fail to entirely surpass its difficulties. Still, the play offers a powerful testament to the dangers of regret, and it challenges the audience to take advantage of youth, beauty and friendship - before "they're gone"
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