Uncle Vanya

In a forgotten corner of the Russian countryside, time drips like cheap vodka and nothing quenches the thirst for meaning. Welcome to Uncle Vanya, Chekhov's aching masterpiece of unrequited love, failed ambition and drink Russians.

This isn't a tragedy, it's a comedy with the teeth bared - the kind where people tell jokes just before their souls collapse. a retired professor returns to his estate with his young wife, stirring up old grudges and new desires: Vanya drinks because he dares not remember: Astrov makes maps of forests no one will save: Sonya desperately clings to any hope she can find, and Telegin quietly strums his ukulele. All the while, they circle the drain with drunken philosophy, forgotten songs, and toasts to their own undoing.

David Mamet's adaptation is darkly funny, brutally honest and stained with wine and longing.