At Fluellen Theatre |
| Fluellen Theatre Company- Uncle Vanya , GRAND PAVILION, PORTHCAWL , May 25, 2011 |
A riveting production of an amazing play at the Grand Pavilion in Porthcawl. It was presented in the small, basement performance space in this most welcoming of theatres, which added enormously to the feeling of claustrophobic hopelessness experienced by the majority of characters in Chekhov`s play.With the audience sitting all around the playing area and close enough to touch the actors, this proved to be a gripping theatrical experience. Peter Richards in the title role was superb. His portrayal of a life wasted was truly believable. His hatred of Professor Serebryakov boiled over with his attempted shooting of the man, and his failure to accomplish this is accompanied by a hauntingly delivered, “There you are then, another failure” His love for the married and much younger Yelena was beautifully played, and his final despairing scene with his niece Sonya (brilliantly played by Lauralee Nicole) was one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever seen in the theatre. The rest of the cast was terrific, too. Peter Read as the smarmy professor, Charlotte Rogers as his beautiful wife, Lee Bane as the doctor, Astrov, who falls in love with Yelena. In the smaller roles, Margaret Nicholls, Christopher Hale and Claire Novelli all shone, particularly the latter, who played the Nurse (probably the only character in the play who is satisfied with their lot in life) beautifully. Congratulations to Fluellen Theatre Company for presenting this wonderful play so well. I look forward to seeing their next productions. |
Reviewed by: John Phillips |
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