In this modern reading of “Uncle Vanya”, Chekhov’s atmosphere of heat and steam is underlined as a perfectly good excuse for not acting. The visit of the owner of the property, Serebryakov, causes laziness – everyone stops doing their usual jobs to please him, and the presence of his wife, Yelena Andreyevna and her desire for change, forces them to reconsideration and reminds them of missed chances for a better, more fulfilled life.
Everything takes place in one day, so the tension due to waiting for the explanation of Serebryakov’s visit is even greater than in the original text. The characters deal differently with the professor’s visit, which causes a state of emergency on the property. But mostly, they can’t wait to simply be able to “have lunch again like the rest of the normal world”. Through a series of successfully set situations, the play problematizes the desire for change, which has been proven as an excuse to never change anything.
Andrej Nosov, director:
Summer games. As the flamingo replaced big dreams, waiting became the main occupation. Love. Courage. Gratitude. Illusions . Power. Family. Pleasure. Fight. Hate. Revolution. Giving up. Work. Love. Work should be done. It’s boring. You should calm people down. You are unbearable again. Vanja has the best intentions. When there is no real life, one must live from illusion. Or – how Sonja learned to swim.
Congratulations to the Professor. He left anyway.
Mina Ćirić, dramaturg:
Time: Chekhov’s present. Differs from Chekhov’s past only in that there is a fridge now instead of a samovar. Place: a rural property where everyone knows each other, everyone knows everything and together they cultivate their small (dis)order. We examine the limits of laziness, we collect excuses (not) to change. People are ready for anything to protect their comfort zone. We don’t judge people, we want to understand them. Some had a desire to help humanity, and some had an idea of how to help themselves. What happened? Whoever learns to understand Chekhov’s characters, has found a way out of Chekhov’s environment.