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Regional Reviews: New Jersey A Delightfully Top Notch
The setting is the comfortable Bucks County, Pennsylvania, farmhouse which is home to brother and sister Vanya and Sonia. They are in their 50s. The pair have spent most of their adult lives caring for their now deceased parents. Vanya and Sonia feel that they have lived unfilled lives, and their bickering is as reflective of actual family relationships as it is hilarious. Soon, all hellzapoppin. First arrival is the cleaning lady, a gifted wisecracking West Indian Cassandra (that's also her name). The most distressing arrival is Vanya and Sonia's sister Masha, a five times married, fading movie star who bought the Bucks County house for her parents and siblings, but has otherwise been missing in action. She has in tow, her latest carnal acquisition Spike, a narcissistic, talentless aspiring actor who is at least a quarter century her junior and hot to trot with any filly. Spike soon finds and brings over Nina, an innocent late adolescent visiting next door who aspires to be on stage. Masha has accepted an invitation to a costume party at a neighboring house. She is going as Snow White and has brought dwarf costumes for Vanya and Sonia so they will enhance her aura at the party (Spike is to be costumed as Prince Charming). More disturbingly, Masha is planning to sell the farmhouse in order to cut her expenses. The major task of director Don Stephenson, which he has successfully performed, is to duplicate the McCarter/Lincoln Center/Broadway experience. Still, there is a fresh-feeling natural ease and exuberant sense of fun in the performance, which suggests that under Stephenson the cast was enabled to find for themselves the details for their characterizations. Mark Nelson's often bemused Vanya personifies the dwarf that Masha would make of him. Furthermore, Nelson captures the passion and ultimate confusion in Vanya's stirring and hilarious second act rant. Here, Durang brilliantly conveys what has been lost in our computer age and that which is merely the unease of an older person discomforted by a changing world. Michelle Pawk is an endearing Sonia. Her line readings reveal Sonia's good nature and dry sense of humor, even in her angriest moments. The histrionic humor of Masha is fully exploited by Carolyn McCormick. McCormick does not shy away from arousing the ire of the viewer when portraying Masha's nastiness. Philippe Bowgen is most entertaining as he fully embraces the satiric persona that Durang has given to Spike. Gina Daniels is delightfully witty and vibrant as Cassandra. Jamie Ann Romero is a winning Nina. The original large, lush and detailed set design by David Korins of the farmhouse and surrounding property (or a reasonable facsimile of it) has been deployed here. It effectively encompasses realism and artificiality as artfully as does the play. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is a culturally hip, comically antic variation on the moving and soulful plays of Anton Chekhov, honoring and preserving the heart and soul of Chekhov. It is an hilarious entertainment that is emotionally and intellectually satisfying. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike continues performances (Evenings: Wednesday-Thursday 7:30 pm/ Friday-Saturday 8 pm/ Sunday 7 pm / Matinees: Thursday, Saturday, Sunday 1:30 pm) through February 15, 2015 at Paper Mill Playhouse, 3 Brookside Drive, Millburn, NJ 07041. Box Office: 973-376-4343; online: www.papermill.org. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang; directed by Don Stephenson Cast
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