VANYA+CRITIQUE 



Natascha M Perez THEA 2000 Richmond 2/27/2017 //Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike// Critique Last Thursday I had the great pleasure of watching the University of Georgia’s rendition of //Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike// by Christopher Durang. It was highly comedic and all too relatable. I really loved the concept of family that pertains between Sonia, Vanya, and Masha. I also loved Cassandra the housemaid and the way the actress embodied the sassy yet caring character. The play is about the lives of three siblings, Sonia, Vanya, and Masha and their journey upon Masha’s visit to settle their differences and regain hope with their relationships with themselves, each other, and the world around them. I think that Christopher Durang did an excellent job in representing examples within his own family life within the characters of this play. Coming from an alcoholic father and a mother who has had multiple miscarriages, and then a divorce later in his teenage years that has left him to seek counseling within his university really blended into his creative abilities as a writer later on. The idea of an unhappy family life within the play inspired by his own family problems is further reflected into Sonia, Vanya’s, and even Masha’s lack of satisfaction with their own lives and each other. I think Durang’s emphasis on hope and family really come from his difficult family life himself, as writers tend to write and reflect through their own work from their own experiences. I absolutely believe that the subject matter is worthwhile because it is very relatable to my own personal life. I think that the effect that parents have on their children’s own lives and then how the children handle themselves later on with the support of their siblings and the ones they love around them is essential. Family is essential to life. All of the actors were superb and did an amazing job conveying to the authors intent I would say. I loved the actress who played Masha and how over the top she was. She was able to be realistically emotional and then switch to overly dramatic and comedic and I loved how after Spike left her and she had that sad scene in which we could see her character’s vulnerability, that at the end of the play when her character is sitting with Sonia and Vanya that she is able to say another comedic line that adds to her original funny character. The loud, sassy, and heroically entertaining house keeper Cassandra spoke in a very different way than the rest of the characters in this play. A psychic, Cassandra made claims of multiple events that she sees happening in the future that do in some state of form happen eventually in the play. She is referenced as a foil to Cassandra in Greek mythology who also possessed the ability to see into the future. The mythological Cassandra was not able to convince anyone of her predictions which came true in the end. The parallel of the Cassandra in the play to the one in Greek tragedies is reflected when Cassandra recites an adapted version of a passage from //The Fall of Troy// by Quintus. I think that there is a very unique and obvious parallel between this that really adds another dimension to the play and made it better. By having Cassandra speak in a prophecy and oracle like way, as well as wear really bight and vibrant color which reflect her strong and hilarious personality really added to the entertainment of the character itself and I really loved it. By being expressive and convincing each characters (these two for example) were really able to help convey Durang’s intent within his story by adding humor and credibility. Superb. I think that the physical production was very realistic and convincing because the set was incredible as it really depicted a really nice spin off of what a small town farmhouse in Pennsylvania would look like. I loved the use of lighting in the beginning and throughout the play were the light focused towards the front of stage right to indicate a window that was there, along with the bird noises to indicate the time of day. It shifted the focus of the audience to what the characters such as Vanya at the beginning was potentially doing (looking out a window with a cup of coffee in his hand). Aside from the set the actors were also very convincing and realistic when they acted within it. Vanya and Sonia’s discussion at the beginning of the play and usage of the coffee mugs and the way they drank and simply moved onstage was very convincing. Another example would be when Vanya erupted after witnessing Spike on his phone during the showing of his play to his family that was really a moment in the play that I admired his character even further. From the beginning of the play he is seen almost as the peace keeper between his two sisters and does not seem confrontational even after Sonia’s tantrums. He is a very caring brother to both of his sisters and loves them very much. His homosexuality really further adds to his humbleness because in the play he mentioned that his father had really critiqued his playwriting skills as a kid and I can only assume that was not the only thing that his father may have critiqued him on. This monologue really shows how much Vanya bottles in and takes form the people society around him. He is a simple man who admires the past and because his present and recent years haven’t gone well, his dwelling in the past and longing for a happier future really intertwined to create his breaking point and he thrusted all of that onto Spike. The actor did an amazing job by flailing his arms, pacing back and forth, and using such facial expressions that really caught my attention to convey this message. The audience really picked up on the humor. I heard that the show was incredibly funny form people who have seen it before me and I was very glad that when I saw it had met my expectations. Between acts I stepped out and used the restroom and my partner and I heard those who also stepped out gushing about how funny it was and how hot the actor who played Spike was. I was more influenced by the audience who had already seen the play and told me that it was great than those in the lobby between acts. I’m just glad it met my expectations. I haven’t read any reviews on the play, however I have told all my friends to go see it as my friends who have seen it before me did the same to me. I honestly think that reviews are so subjective and biased because no one has the same opinion as the other and I would be surprised if the show received a really negative review. Even if I am influenced by those before me who have seen something, I like to go off of my own opinion in the end when I have finished seeing the show. My interest in a given play such as this will definitely lead me to search out and read other plays by the same author. If I like the style of a playwright or novelist I definitely will want to read further works similar to the one I have enjoyed just experiencing. One of my all-time favorite film directors is Quintin Tarantino. I have seen every film of his because I love his dark and violent styled plots. The way his suspenseful music opens his film makes me smile. This play was very refreshing and I intend to do further research in to Christopher Durang’s work as soon as I get a second to breathe outside of midterms.