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35+ oeuvres 419 utilisateurs 10 critiques 1 Favoris

Séries

Œuvres de Simon Stephens

Sea Wall / A Life (2019) 52 exemplaires
Punk Rock (Modern Plays) (2009) 17 exemplaires
Birdland (Modern Plays) (2014) 17 exemplaires
Harper Regan (2008) 14 exemplaires
Heisenberg (Modern Plays) (2015) 13 exemplaires
Motortown (2006) 10 exemplaires
On the Shore of the Wide World (2005) 10 exemplaires
Song from Far Away (Modern Plays) (2015) 8 exemplaires
The cherry orchard {Simon Stephens} (2014) — Adapter — 7 exemplaires
Pornography (Student Editions) (2008) 7 exemplaires
Death comes home (1972) 7 exemplaires

Oeuvres associées

Une maison de poupée (1879) — Traducteur, quelques éditions5,385 exemplaires

Étiqueté

Partage des connaissances

Date de naissance
1971
Sexe
male
Nationalité
UK
Lieu de naissance
Stockport, Cheshire, England, UK
Lieux de résidence
London, England, UK
Études
University of York
Professions
playwright

Membres

Critiques

Essence of Uncle Vanya
Review of the Methuen Drama paperback (October 9, 2023) adapted by Simon Stephens based on Anton Chekhov's original play Дядя Ваня (1897).

Ivan enters with a gun.
Alexander: Stop him! Somebody stop him! Help me! He's lost his mind!
Helena: Give me the gun, Ivan. Give me the gun. Give it to me.
Ivan: Let me go Helena.
Where the fuck is he? Ah. There he is.
Bang!
Did I miss him? Did I miss him?
Oh my fucking God, My God. My God. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
No. No. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I fucking missed.


Those familiar with Chekhov's original Uncle Vanya should easily see how closely the above excerpt mirrors it using contemporary uncensored vernacular. You can look up the original (see below in Trivia and Links) if you like. I wanted to use that dramatic climax of Act III as an example of how Simon Stephen's adaptation differs from, but is still faithful, to the original.

I went to see Andrew Scott's extraordinary tour-de-force performance in all the parts of Vanya through the National Theatre Live in cinemas series. This capped off my month long Vanyaology expedition of seeing the revival of Liisa Reppo-Martell's acclaimed Toronto production and reading David Mamet's adaptation, Richard Nelson's adaptation and Richard Pevear's & Larissa Volokhonsky's complete translation.

See poster at https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/429687275_25882464941352280_2...
National Theatre Live poster for "Vanya" with Andrew Scott. Image sourced from NTLive.

Although the playscript is credited as being developed together with actor Andrew Scott, it is only a slim replica of what the actor brings to the stage performance. Acting out all 8 roles (the walk-on part of the workman messenger is dropped, as it is in most productions), Andrew Scott makes use of the tiniest of objects (sunglasses, a dish cloth, a radio, fondling a necklace etc.) along with voice modulation to signal his change from one character to the next and then back again.

See photo at https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/429754076_25882465048018936_6...
Andrew Scott (as Michael aka Dr. Astroff) eats cheese as part of a midnight snack with Sonia during "Vanya."

I realize I'm really rating the performance here with 5-stars, but this was both the distilled essence of Chekhov presented in modern-day text along with an extraordinary challenge for a single actor to bring to life. Andrew Scott does that miraculously.

See photo at https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/429661618_25882465238018917_2...
Andrew Scott (as Sonia) sits at the (imagined) knee of Uncle Vanya at the conclusion of "Vanya."

Trivia and Links
You can see a trailer for the National Theatre Live production with Andrew Scott on YouTube here. The filmed performance was in cinemas in late February/early March 2024.

As Uncle Vanya is in the public domain, you can read various online translations at sources such as Project Gutenberg. The English language translator is not identified.

You can also read the original Russian language version of Uncle Vanya at iLibrary.ru. If you turn on web translator you can obtain your own rough translation.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
alanteder | Mar 20, 2024 |
Jesus, I don't know... why DO we prepare so wonderfully and elaborately for birth but not for death? This audiobook covers loss in a way I was not prepared for. Hug the ones you love.


Maybe this will teach me to stop going into books blindly.
 
Signalé
thezenofbrutality | 3 autres critiques | Jul 5, 2023 |
 
Signalé
XSassyPants | 3 autres critiques | Jun 11, 2022 |
By far the best free audible book I've ever experienced. This appears to be a Broadway performance of two short works, and is delivered very well as an audiobook. They are essentially two (very depressing) stories about family, birth, and death. Not really my thing, but if you're into that kind of story, well worth the $0.
 
Signalé
octal | 3 autres critiques | Jan 1, 2021 |

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Statistiques

Œuvres
35
Aussi par
2
Membres
419
Popularité
#58,191
Évaluation
½ 3.6
Critiques
10
ISBN
109
Langues
3
Favoris
1

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