Review: Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike

Vanya and Sonia live in an old farmhouse in Bucks County, Pa. (near Upper Black Eddy) by themselves.
This is the home that they were raised in. Their parents (two professors who were great lovers of Chekov) picked their names from the characters in Chekov's plays.
The parents are deceased. Vanya and Sonia's sister Masha no longer resides in the house with her siblings. She left long time ago to become a successful actress. She didn't hang around as the parents fell into their dotage. But Vanya and Sonia did and they cared for their parents day after day as the parents withered away. And Vanya and Sonia (who are not biological siblings because Sonia was adopted) will be happy to tell you all about this -- especially, Sonia who feels she gave up her own life for her parents, for her brother, for the house, for . . . . what, really?
Vanya and Sonia never married.
But Masha married and divorced five times. She has the ego of a hugely ambitious actress and the body of a much younger woman. But she's still getting old, just like Vanya and Sonia.
They are of a certain age -- the age at which other people start to look away.
These are the main characters of Christopher Durang's new Broadway comedy Vanya (David Hyde Pierce) and Sonia (Kristine Nielson) and Masha (Sigourney Weaver) and Spike (Billy Magnussen).
So, you're probably wondering where Spike came from, huh?
Well, he's Masha's Boy Toy. He's the play's dumb blonde. And all the trouble begins when Sonia brings him home to Bucks County for a visit, ostensibly to attend a local costume party but really to tell Vanya and Sonia that she plans to sell the house.
Okay, I won't give away any more of the story -- except to say that into the mix fall a clairvoyant housekeeper and a perky neighbor who's an aspiring young actress.
Are you imagining plot lines yet?
Well, be careful -- because amidst all the verbal and physical comedy this play has its share of surprises.
Vanya may seem laconic but don't be fooled by his seemingly detached attitude.
Sonia may seem overly-sensitive and downright depressed but she'e remarkably resilient.
Masha may seem successful, self-confident and content but she's missing some deep-rooted something.
And Spike? Well, what you see is what you get. He's just a young, lithe, toned, near-perfect physical specimen. But don't think he doesn't have a plan, sorta.
When these four characters come together the result is nothing less than uproarious. The witty zingers, clever asides, wry musings and think-out-loud comic pronouncements bounce off the old farmhouse walls and cascade into the audience with wildly risible results. At times there's so much laughter that you can hardly hear what the actors are saying. At one point Vanya says of Spike: "Why does he keep taking his clothes off?" And Sonia answers: "Because he can!"
It's a great line -- as are many, many lines in this play. But these aren't merely one-liners. This isn't just a bunch of gags and jokes. All of this (even the highly-animated and just-this-side-of-raunchy physical comedy) fits together into a bittersweet package that induces guffaws but still sends you home thinking.
It all comes together in a brilliant monologue delivered in the second act by Vanya and David Hyde Pierce steals the show with it. But every actor in this play shines.
There's more than a generational clash at work here. This show about Baby Boomers as they enter the last phase of their lives in a world they never dreamed of - a world they neither own nor understand; and a world that they don't influence much anymore, either. Suddenly, they're longing for a nicer, sweeter, gentler time and they're lecturing others about manners and morality. Horrors! This is not the world they intended to create, is it? How did this happen? Where did their lives go?
And, yes -- this is probably about The Meaning of Life and about Loss and Lamentation and so forth but we couldn't really tell you how or if it's really all related to Chekov because though we read all of Chekov in college, we've forgotten it. Much as the boomers in this play, we've just blocked it all out.
If only Vanya or Sonia or Masha had bothered to have children, but they didn't.
If only Spike didn't act so childish, but he does.
But to hell with all that. And enough Chekov, too. Because it's all okay in the end. The characters find their way as best they can.
And you will have a great, great time in the theater.
We promise you.
Get. Tickets. NOW!