Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
Four stars
Things seem initially jolly at the start of Lung Ha
Theatre Company’s new look at Anton Chekhov’s piece of end of the century
ennui, presented in co-production with the Helsinki-based folk music department
of the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts. This is despite the
aching void that hangs over the increasingly empty house that provides the
nearest thing to a social whirl of the army occupied town. It’s young Irina’s
birthday, and her big sister Olga is going to make it as fun as can be, even if
their other sibling Masha would rather sprawl herself on the sofa with studiedly
bored intent.
Adrian Osmond’s new version of the play manages to
pare down the sprawl of Chekhov’s original to a ninety-minute meditation on the
meaning of life and the seeming lack of it in Maria Oller’s wide-open
production performed by a cast of twenty on Karen Tennent’s wood-lined set.
Emma McCaffrey sets the tone as a perennially buoyant
Olga, off-set by Emma Clark as the destined to be disappointed Irina. Nicola
Tuxworth’s sulky Masha is only shaken into life by the allure of the big city
represented by man in uniform Vershinin. There is a lightness of touch running
throughout as the characters criss-cross each other in search of a key towards
their own futures to fill up the emptiness. At times it resembles a latter-day
sit-com that falls somewhere between Samuel Becket and Mike Leigh in its
inherent sense of the ridiculous.
Adding to the overall experience is a folk-tinged
score by Anna-Karin Korhonen, performed live by Irina Cenerberg, Michael Ferrie
and Noora Kauppila, all students at the Sibelius Academy. This enlivens an
already fast-paced interpretation of the play with a jauntiness that gives it
fresh life.
The Herald, March 19th 2018
ends
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