In Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, misery loves comedy via Christopher Durang’s take on the interactions in a fine Bucks County farm house of his titled three siblings -- and one’s boy-toy. Named after Chekhov characters by their parents, middle-aged Vanya and (adopted) Sonia cared for them through their long Alzheimer’s prelude to death. Gay but dull Vanya has resigned himself to the life he considers wasted, while spinster Sonia mourns in sulking silence or smashes china over amassed resentments. Now sister Masha, who’s supported them via the house and allowances, is returning to....?
Cassandra, a black maid who is an accurate but unlistened-to prophet like her epic namesake, issues warnings about Masha and her (unseen) aide, Hootie-Pie. But she’s at her usual job in the kitchen when Masha (very tall, provocative Anne-Marie Cusson) sweeps in with Spike. He’s her body-beautiful-boyfriend, proud he almost got an audition for one of her TV series’ sexy, inane movies. Absorbed in her self and insecure due to aging and five failed marriages, Masha intends to sell the house, sending her sibs into terror. Yet all agree to go with her to a costume ball, where she’ll play Snow White with each sibling a dwarf and Spike (Jefferson McDonald, fit, flirty, fabulous) as Prince Charming.
The party turns out to be a bust for Masha, since no one recognized her (hilarious) cartoon identity. Revengeful Sonia captivated the crowd in a stunning gown she chose to use as the Evil Queen but as played by Maggie Smith in “California Suite.” Vanya dressed as Doc but Spike kept shedding parts of his princely garb. Masha’s only victory was to persuade Nina, a visitor who had wandered by the pool, to come not as a princess but rather in the Dopey costume rented for Sonia. The latter’s revenge vs. Masha is sweetened the next day by an invitation to a date from a man met at the ball.
Sonia’s phone answer (a marvelous set piece) lets Peggy Roeder shine in turning her regretfulness into revitalization. Thus begins the falling action in which Tyla Abercrombie, broadly but believably comic, nicely transitions Cassandra from voodoo in secret to victory in getting herself seriously listened to. Cusson, who’s been all surface and selfish as Masha, changes in attitude toward her and decision about all. (Why? Author Durang acts as a deus ex machina.)
Nina, an aspiring actress played sweetly by lovely Tori Grace Hines, gets the lead part, a Molecule, in a play written and staged by Vanya. Pro-ecological, it’s silly but salient. Spike’s bored reactions point up his really anti-social anti-intellectualism. His texting leads to Andrew Sellon’s triumphant tour de force tirade as Vanya. He rails, if ever so politely, against the changes he and his generation have undergone: from posting letters to cyber messaging, from climate predicability to wild shifts, from family-oriented TV shows to ones glorifying violence and even offering participation in it, from nice guys to villains.
Director Peter Amster masterfully dictates that dialogue in Vanya be delivered, whenever possible, outward so that the characters talk to, rather than converse with, each other. They’re often defined by stasis or movement, and Amster has elicited some breathtaking leaps and a daring reverse striptease by Jefferson McDonald as Spike. The technical staff is so good that appropriate changes in sound and light don’t call attention to themselves. Jennifer Capro’s costumes, though, deserve the attention they get, from Sonia’s sequins and tiara to Masha’s disastrous Snow White who could be Bo Peep, among others.
Knowing the Chekovian and pop-cultural references isn’t necessary to enjoyment of the play but may enhance it. A few times Durang goes stereotypical, over the top, or on for too long. But if the production at Asolo Rep took 15 minutes longer than the play’s projected duration, it was less because of the intermission than pauses for laughter throughout. I plead guilty to being one of the causes of that!
