"Sensitive acting mixed with superior displays of improv and hilarious audience participation make 'Drunkle Vanya' an immersive delight...Improbably and cleverly, Chekhov’s tone and intentions survive the mayhem. This is chiefly due to the superb work of the ensemble who rapidly shift back and forth from their intense characterizations to the collaborative silliness with the audience...An exhilarating yet thoughtful event."
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"What keeps the show afloat are its thespian tipplers. The free-wheeling six-member troupe ingeniously capture the Chekhovian mood of doom and gloom and infuse it into the motley characters...Its artists never over-reach themselves, except perhaps when they reach for a bottle of Smirnoff Ice on the top shelf...There's nothing highbrow about this production. However, it will not only whet your whistle but will re-whet your appetite for Chekhov."
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"Adapter and director, Lori Wolfer Hudson, has (re)created Anton Chekhov’s 'Uncle Vanya' in an unforgettably fresh, riotous, immersive production...Marvelously off-the-wall, this streamlined version of the play is true to the plot. Given that Chekhov’s stories are character-driven, there is no greater testament to the excellence of these actors...'Drunkle Vanya' is inspired brilliance. It is adoringly irreverent, fabulously original and hands-down irresistible."
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“A performance that is both hilarious and touching. The text is presented irreverently, with modern references peppered throughout, and yet the expertly delivered one-liners and physical comedy do not derail the serious work...Throughout, this committed, talented ensemble breeze back and forth across the fourth wall. In their skilled hands, the co-existence of broad comedy and serious storytelling hovers securely on the brink of chaos to the audience’s delight.”
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"This restaurant feels like a portal to Moscow with its extensive menu of infused vodkas, dim lighting, and an overly enthusiastic piano player who can be heard from their second floor...Perhaps because of the free-flowing alcohol or conversational tone and audience interactions, this 'Vanya' doesn’t deliver Chekhov’s signature cathartic wallop of despair. Elements of gallows humor are amped up and provide the momentum for this lost clan to carry on."
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"What I was not prepared for was its sheer joy at relishing its own inventive and imaginative zest. Lori Wolter Hudson has masterfully made it so modern audiences can encounter poor old Uncle Vanya and his circumstances and feel no pain...None of the drinking games really enhance the poignant moments in Chekhov’s 'Uncle Vanya.' Oh well, we didn’t come to see his version of 'Uncle Vanya' but to be enraptured by a youthful 'drunkle' Vanya, and to have fun making fun of neurotic, horrible people."
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"Awesomely funny (but not only funny) performance...Now I know how to enjoy live theater. Apparently it involves sprawling out on a comfortable couch, having unlimited amounts of vodka, pretty decent actors doing great Russian theater for (mostly, but not entirely) laughs (while listening to the guy on the piano bar downstairs the entire time)...It was crazy in (almost) only good ways, with lots of clever dialogue, enforced drinking and up-to-the-minute asides that (almost) all worked."
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"This 'Vanya' literally revels in upending notions of the traditional Chekhovian vie de château, spinning it on its own head by juxtaposing early 20th-century charms against the more modern quirks of early 21st-century life...Yes, it certainly looks and feels like Russia at first glance—but just as one settles in, things start to get interestingly subversive...A unique immersive experience, making for one thoroughly entertaining night out."
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