Uncle Vanya (Hunter Theater Project) NYC Reviews and Tickets

"It’s clearer, truer, and more comprehensible than it’s ever been before...I’m still shivery, teary-eyed, and stunned from seeing Richard Nelson’s devastatingly intimate production...This is as naked and fully human an 'Uncle Vanya' as we’re likely to see. Nelson’s impeccably balanced ensemble doesn’t seem to be so much interpreting the script as living it...The performances are so self-effacing, you won’t at first realize how thorough and completely felt they are."
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"We’ve never seen a Vanya like this—huge, ox-necked, shuddering like a dray horse from from burdens he’s pulled too long. Sanders's acting contains a level of detail that simply shouldn’t be visible without a camera to magnify it...The only people onstage who come close to this titanic performance are Woods, a vivid and feeling actor, and DeVries, who can also render the pore-level naturalism that Nelson demands. But a central chunk of the play belongs to Astrov and Elena, who are less secure."
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"It’s a pity that Nelson, Pevear, and Volokhonsky’s new version of ‘Uncle Vanya’...often seems to stick in the mouths of its actors. The cast is, for the most part, superb, and in the moments they’re not shown to best advantage, their inherent abilities are still well visible below the text...It’s a credit to them, to Nelson as a director, and to the irrepressible brilliance of Chekhov that the production still manages, labored language and all, to find moments of real humor and pathos."
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"The results are successful in every way...I can wholeheartedly recommend this production to Chekhov novices and connoisseurs...Such terrible tales are best told in an understated way, and Nelson’s actors hardly ever raise their voices, whether figuratively or literally. Instead, they let you listen in as they watch the sun set on their bleak little world...One of our most accomplished character actors, Sanders gets to be the star of this show, scoring a decisive triumph in the title role."
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“A heart-piercing production as sublime as I’ve ever seen Chekhov performed...The actors...speak in intentionally normal tones of voice, and if you have trouble catching every word, Nelson has said he doesn’t much care...By distilling the text to a seemingly fresh variety of conversational truthfulness...Vanya’s silent suffering feel brutally real. And when in this instance Vanya’s patience finally runs out, Sanders’s explosion is nothing less than cataclysmic.”
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"Utilizes the distinctly small style that Nelson, as playwright and director, has honed over the past several years. The actors speak in a near whisper and express the unique suffering of these characters in true Chekhovian style, with an elegant balance of vocal and physical anguish...Nelson, Pevar, and Volokhonsky have created a lithe, colloquial cutting of 'Uncle Vanya'...It's the perfect introduction to the text for new audiences, while still capturing the spirit of the original."
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"The most interesting feature of the translation is how the language rarely commits itself to a period...New York stage gem Jay O. Sanders is extremely compelling in the title role...But it's Yvonne Woods' captivating performance as Sonya, Serebryakov's daughter through his first marriage, that gives this production its true beauty...As long as Nelson's productions keep supplying such superb ensembles giving such fully-realized performances, familiarity breeds admiration."
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“The translation, which feels fresh without being distractingly contemporary, fits neatly with Nelson's staging...The design consists of little more than a table and some chairs, with...mics hanging overhead, providing just enough...to make every word intelligible, despite the low-key, almost cinematic, acting style...Nelson has assembled a number of fine companions for Sanders' Vanya...Sanders carries the day; his Vanya is the preeminent member of this house of fools and broken hearts."
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