Play Review: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike written by Christopher Durang, and directed by Lauren Tamke, premiered at the Walterdale Theatre on July 10. The energy and passion from the actors was apparent, coupled with beautiful stage design. However, these aspects weren’t quite enough to make up for the dragging plot.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is about the relationships between three siblings. Vanya (Andrew Mecready) and Sonia (Nicole English) live in their childhood home, following the death of their elderly parents. Their vivacious sister Masha (Donna Call), is a movie star who financially supports them. Yet, when Masha comes home with a flashy younger man, Spike (David Son), and plans to sell the house, all hell breaks loose. 

The setting takes place in the living room of the siblings’ home — a quaint dwelling in rural Pennsylvania. The characterization of the siblings is instant from the opening scene. Vanya and Sonia are the perfect example of bickering siblings, with Vanya being the more rational of the two. This dichotomy between the two siblings becomes a driving factor of the plot, and is only heightened when Masha appears. It’s also when I established that Vanya was my favourite character. His calm, yet cheeky demeanour was a delight to watch throughout. Mecready played the role of a fed-up older brother exceptionally. Every time he was onstage I was impressed with how clearly he delivered his lines, with a hint of annoyance in his voice directed towards his sisters. While his sick-of-life personality became repetitive near the end, it was still satisfying to watch Mecready portray it so fulfilling.

Comedic relief came from Vanya and Sonia’s cleaning woman, Cassandra (Anglia Redding), who did an impeccable job everytime she was onstage. She would boldly voice ominous warnings, while staring up wide-eyed into space with a single spotlight on her. This prophetic aspect may seem random, and out of place in the simple household play. However, Cassandra’s character is an homage to Greek mythology, where Apollo gave Cassandra the gift of prophecy. Throughout the play, there are multiple instances where Cassandra stops her menial task to spew futuristic warnings for the siblings regarding their house. Her appearances were a refreshing turn of events away from the constant bickering among the three siblings. Redding’s booming voice made for a comedic spin on an otherwise simplistic play, that I looked forward to every time.

Another character who brought energy to the mundane sibling home is Masha’s young stud boyfriend, Spike. In his first scene, Spike strips right down to his underwear to go take a swim in the pond — which earned some considerable chuckles from the audience, myself included. Spike’s constant nudity, muscle flexing, and energy is a sharp contrast to the slow-moving lives of Vanya and Sonia. However, his vibrant character wasn’t quite enough to keep me invested in the story. By the end of the play, his youthful energy just seemed out of place among the mature conversations about life from the siblings. Nevertheless, Son’s portrayal of a slightly irritating boy-toy was amusing, and a breath of fresh air among the slow dialogue at times.

The plot of the play was interesting, however I felt it dragged on. At the end I asked myself, so what? The resolution felt rushed, with Vanya and Sonia quickly persuading Masha not to sell the house. Additionally, their forgiveness of Masha for being away all those years was not entirely compelling, since all three siblings fought for the entirety of the play.

What contributed to the seemingly endless length of the play were the numerous monologues from the characters. There were a few scenes where a character would spiel for so long, with no end in sight. Now this is not a fault of the actors. They did an impeccable job with the script they had. They delivered their lines with a strong passion that can only amount to avid preparedness — which made the performance worthwhile. For it being opening night, there were no mishaps, and was incredibly well-rehearsed. With all this in mind however, the actors can only take a repetitive plot so far. 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is being presented at the Walterdale Theatre until July 20.