Vanya!

Alright, what can I say about Vanya? Reading Chekhov is one of those things that I don't really mind, but it's not my favorite. Performing Chekhov, however, is a different story. I think this is because the story-line is so simple and real: the play is character driven. The story stems from character conflict more than anything else. When playing a Chekhov character, one can figure out so much about them through what other people say behind your character's back. When playing a smaller role, like Maria, this is necessary. We know little about her through her own actions, she basically sits, reads her book intently, and once in a while argues with her son or idolizes the professor. It was really helpful to write down everything everyone says about her, and from this I began to discover exactly who this character is, the life she led, and the life she is leading now and how she feels about that. As Vanya is all about character conflict, it was important to look at her relationship to all the other characters. This proved difficult at first, as she only really interacts with Vanya or the professor, and even those relationships are difficult to analyze. For instance, I learned through overhearing Vanya's confession of love to Yelena that Maria did not like her. She feels Yelena has driven her son to this confession, that it is her fault and not his. She also thinks Yelena will never be able to replace her daughter. Maria is also annoyed with Waffles. He plays guitar every time she is trying to read, and he is not even a member of the family. She doesn't mind Astrov as much, however. She sees him as an enlightened person, someone else who is trying to move the world forward. At the same time, however, he is not moving forward what she is interested in (women's rights.) Her relationship to Vanya is also really complex. She is really tough on him, but I believe it to be out of love; she is trying to get him to snap out of his melancholy, and it the only one who will confront him. In the third act, when Serbriakov talks about selling the house, Maria, although she only speaks three times, is torn between whom to side with. She realizes this house is everything to her son, and was everything to her daughter. At the same time, however, she is hoping to be whisked away to Finland with the professor. I also found it interesting that at the end of this scene Vanya looks to her of all people for an answer as of what to do. In this moment, we see she really cares for him, no matter how tough she is, or how many times she sides with the professor. Almost everything in her life has disappeared, except the professor, Vanya, and her passion for activism, so these are the things she latches on to. So, I guess this gives an example about what character driven means. Through interactions and descriptions we get a play with a basic story, in which very little happens or is resolved. Still, this play is engaging as the characters are all unique and provide a different perspective on the world in which they live.