IT was always going to be an epic challenge: two to be frank.
David Hare’s new adaptations of Anton Chekhov’s first three plays performed not just as part of this year’s Chichester Festival but also, on occasions, back to back on the same day.
Such a challenge was set to both the theatre and the ensemble, many of whom would be expected to appear in two if not three of the performances. That was but one collective challenge.
The second challenge would be accepted, it was hoped, by the Chichester audience itself, expected to sit through a whole day of Chekhov whose works can be disturbing even when performed in single showings.
The weekend saw the first of those gauntlets thrown down and I was among the hardy number who experienced the pain, the anguish and, yes, the humour of what we now recognise as the flowering of the mind of a genius.
Performed in the sequence they were written, Platonov, Ivanov and The Seagull reveal the evolution of Chekhov’s experiment with the very form of the play as we now know it.
In Platonov we see his work as a 21-year-old, feeling his way through the themes that would later dominate his work: unrequited love, despair, the search for retribution, the almost inevitable moment of reckoning.
We also find, in this performance, an incredible amount of humour. As mid-morning appetiser for the Chekhov feast to come, Platonov had its opening performance audience roaring with laughter as Chekhov’s antihero finds himself the object of adoration he neither seeks nor knows how to survive.
James McArdle plays Mikhail Platonov in fine style, his sense of timing and casual attractiveness astoundingly convincing.
A comic masterpiece, McArdle’s anti-hero is sympathetic enough, despite his betrayal of every women he encounters, for the audience to hope upon hope he can escape his inevitable fate. Nina Sosanya plays the seductive Anna Petrovna in a style that few men could possibly resist.
If Platanov is a sympathetic character however, Nikolai Ivanov, the central character in Chichester’s second Chekhov of this marathon is not. Played by Samuel West, this central character has little if any redeeming characteristics with the sole exception of an inner-understanding of his own failings.
Ivanov’s inability to overcome his demons even when his wife, again played by the superb Nina Sosanya, is dying of tuberculosis, robs him of any respect from a watching audience.
West’s is a dark, brooding performance, countered at least by Chekhov’s ability to inject humour into his surroundings through strong tragic-comic performances by Peter Egan and Jonathan Coy.
The marathon finishes with Chekhov’s first acclaimed masterpiece and the most recognisable play in the trilogy: The Seagull.
Although not well received when it opened in St. Petersburg, The Seagull heralded Chekhov’s evolution in style on his way towards The Cherry Orchard and Uncle Vanya.
Darker and lacking much of the humour present in his earlier works, The Seagull picks up themes of unrequited love, betrayal, despair, depression and futility.
Olivia Vinall plays Nina, The Seagull in all but name, whose doomed love for writer Boris Trigorian, played by Samuel West, destroys all around her including herself. Anna Chancellor plays over-bearing, needy, self-obssessed actress Irana Arkadina.
A marvellous performance, Irana commands every scene, a failing that lies at the heart of the disastrous relationship with her son, created with drifting sanity by Joshua James. Tragedy hovers, as it does in all of these Chekhov early works, unseen somewhere in the dark woods that form a backdrop to the three plays.
All three plays in this Chichester trilogy are stunning.
The clever re-use of Tom Pye’s set for each staging is superb, to be fully appreciated only by experiencing all three performances.
Each of the plays can be seen individually on separate dates until November 14. If you were to chose just one I would have to recommend Platonov, if only for James MacArdle’s stunning performance.
All three plays can be experienced back to back each Saturday until November 14.
As an insight into the evolving mind of genius it is a stunning, and yes draining experience, but immensely rewarding.
More details can be found cft.org.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel