Uncle Vanya Reviews

DC Theater Arts- Highly Recommended

"...Uncle Vanya, directed by Simon Godwin, and co-produced by STC and the Berkeley Repertory Company, is an indispensable production. The author is Anton Chekhov, the Russian literary genius who died at the tragically early age of 44. It is the story of one of those unanticipated shocks that can rip a family apart. In the hands of Godwin?s incandescent cast, it is sometimes poignant, sometimes frightening, sometimes irresistibly comic. Vanya is the perfect play for our Alice in Wonderland era."

MetroWeekly- Highly Recommended

"...There is no question that the engine of this production is Hugh Bonneville's show-stopping Vanya. He may be smack-dab in the middle of a late 19th century household deep in the Russian countryside, but this is a guy who could just as easily be overstaying his welcome on your couch, whiskey in hand, complaining for the umpteenth time about what a crime it is for the gorgeous Yelena to be wasting her life with her boring old husband, Alexandre."

Stage and Cinema- Highly Recommended

"...From the moment the house opens, Shakespeare Theatre Company?s Uncle Vanya, directed by Simon Godwin and starring Hugh Bonneville, signals that this is no ordinary Chekhov. The ?pre-show? is a quietly brilliant touch: actors drift onstage, greet the audience, lace up their boots, and half-slip into character as if the entire production had just rolled off a touring truck. Robert Brill?s set, too, suggests something in flux?a raw, unvarnished space in transition, as if the countryside itself were barely holding together."