Despite his best efforts, Chekhov’s works are often more tragic than funny. Director Jessie Norman, in this production of seven of his short plays, intends to offer an antithesis to this common perception. From the pun-inspired posters to the physical comedy and absurdist humour, these plays promise to be light, finely-tuned and about as far from The Seagull as it is possible to get.
The excerpt I was shown consisted of two ten minute plays, The Alien Corn and The Sneeze. The first was an exchange between a brash Russian landowner, Kamyshev, and a timid French tutor, Champugne, who has stayed on the Russian man’s estate despite the fact that all the children have grown up and left home. Chekhov, being Chekhov, uses the mild xenophobia of the landowner to reveal something of his loneliness, and the interplay between the narrator’s introduction and the sketch itself is what brings the piece out of the realm of pure comedy.
The Sneeze, while also very light on the surface, equally drew out the terror of a junior official at the prospect of offending his superior. The actors will all take on several roles across the seven plays, and even in the two shorts I saw showed an admirable versatility – special mention should go to Ed Barr-Sim for his leap from morose servitude as a footman to panicky fervour as the minor official in the second play.
Although I did not see set or costumes, the plans sound interesting and innovative. The scene changes, Norman tells me, will be effected by the actors themselves without the use of blackouts, to give a parlour or music-hall air to proceedings.
The most exciting aspect of the set promises to be a live string quartet, with music composed specifically for the production. The Sneeze used the string music to add to the physical comedy, and the music will also be used to choreograph the scene changes.
If all goes to plan, this promises to be both a fun and polished production. The short pieces I saw were well rehearsed and, for the most part, trod the line between comedy and farce well. The Sneeze veered a little into over-hammed comedy, as much must be communicated by face and gesture, but this will probably be tempered by the first night.
Overall, I was impressed by the strong cast of versatile actors and some excellent and innovative direction.
4 stars
