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| Photo: John Cornicello |
I confess I had never seen Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya', but when I first heard of 'Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike' by Christopher Durang, the 2013 Tony winner of Best Play was based from it, I knew I wanted to see it some day.
Well, the good news it has made it to Seattle, thanks to ACT's new production I saw this past weekend. I am glad I did, and the production has many things that a Gay audience would love. A Gay Character, a Diva, Disney, and lots of Beefcake.
The story goes like this; Middle-aged siblings Vanya (Seattle Theater Legend, R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen), live in the family home in Pennsylvania. Vanya and Sonia have not had to grow up. After spending their adulthood looking after their now-dead parents, neither has a job, and money is provided by their movie star sister, Masha (Pamela Reed), who owns the house and pays the bills. Vanya (who is gay) and Sonia (who is forever reminding everyone that she is adopted) spend their days reflecting on their lost chances, Cassandra (Cynthia Jones), the cleaning lady, believes in Voodoo and is prone to making dire prophecies that no one believes.
This static environment is disrupted when Masha returns home, bringing with her a flurry of drama, an endless litany of insecurity, and a much younger, gorgeous, dimwitted and half-naked, lover named Spike the Sexy, William Poole). Spike meets a girl at the lake and introduces Nina (Sydney Andrews), an aspiring actress who provokes envy in Masha, lust in Spike and sympathy in Vanya (Nina even calls him 'Uncle Vanya'). Vanya also lusts after Spike.
