Uncle Vanya

A few nights ago we went to see Uncle Vanya at the Moscow Art Theater. Although it was not the most exciting play we've seen, I thought it was really well done and captured the mood that the director and author most likely wanted to set. The play focuses on a group of people who lead drab, boring lives, and demonstrates the tediousness of their problems throughout four acts. This boring atmosphere definitely came across - The set was a huge beige wall with windows that kept opening and closing incessantly as the characters moved in and out of the house, and the costumes were completely monochromatic. Everyone wore beige in the first two acts and gray in the second, which got to be a little much as a viewer, but was very effective in communicating the point of an unexciting life in the country. At the end of the performance, the stage was empty except for the beige wall, and then a watchman walked on, dressed all in beige - and then a beige curtain closed on them. Although obviously the color of the curtain wasn't planned, the amount of beige on stage was overwhelming.
The set itself was what I found to be the most distracting part of the play, although it was one of the most clear demonstrations of the characters' boring lives. Action took place both in front of the house and 'inside' of it, and so whenever anyone stepped inside the house - and they were constantly going in and out - they had to open a window to be heard. It clearly gave the impression that the characters had nothing better to do than change location and open windows, but it got to be extremely annoying as an audience member.
Although I didn't particularly enjoy the performance, I thought it was very effective. Even without understanding the language, I easily got the impression that the characters were going stir crazy inside of their big country house, causing their small problems to get bigger and bigger.