‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’ is classic Durang

NEW YORK — Kristine Nielsen’s hilarious performance at the Golden Theatre in midtown Manhattan is worth a trip to see Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. The fact that her character is found in an often gut-busting new play by Christopher Durang is theatrical gravy.

Durang’s sendup of Anton Chekhov’s plays, including The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters, is a clever combination of crazed hilarity and biting social commentary. Nielsen plays Sonia, a lonesome woman who still lives in the house she grew up in, sharing a life with her equally lonesome brother Vanya (David Hyde Pierce). Sonia never found a husband, and Vanya never found a partner. We first meet them as they take in some quiet moments on the  porch that overlooks a beautiful pond in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. They joke about their sadness, often letting their conversations run into ridiculousness and overt sorrowfulness. When Sonia is upset she’s prone to throwing full cups of coffee.

Their other sibling, Masha (Sigourney Weaver), is the only one who seems to have grown up living her dreams. She’s a successful Hollywood actress, and she stops by with her latest boyfriend (Spike, played by Billy Magnussen — although understudy Creed Garnick was in the night I attended). The clashing of Sonia/Vanya with Masha/Spike makes for some great humor.

Sonia layers her sadness with killer one-liners, while Masha seems completely unaware of anything outside her own bubble. Spike, a jock-like character with little shame or sense of privacy, is a man willing to strip down to his underwear in front of everyone for a quick swim.

Durang has these four characters, plus the maid Cassandra (a very funny Shalita Grant), circulate around one another for two hours and 30 minutes. They get into trouble, cry, scream, laugh and grow some wrinkles in the process. It’s a credit to the cast that Durang’s often outlandish dialogue seems right at home on the Golden Theater stage.

Nielsen, a comedy genius, fares the best of the cast. She has a way of playing to the audience yet internalizing some of the pain Sonia faces. Although the evening is chiefly a labor of laughs, there is one monologue in act two where Sonia breaks our heart.

Hyde Pierce, quickly becoming the go-to man on Broadway, is understated yet effective as Vanya. He’s playing a gay character whose backstory is never fully explored, although we come to find out that he loves writing plays. Vanya is an artist under imprisonment, stuck in the house and afraid to take a chance in life. He also feels uncomfortable around Spike, who parades around the house often without clothes, but almost always without brains.

Garnick, filling in for Magnussen, garnered the most laughs on the night I saw the show. He offered a full-body portrayal of Spike, jumping around the set, bouncing in and out of the arms of Sonia, treating everyone like hockey players rather than acquaintances. He certainly messes up the already dysfunctional rhythm of this wayward family unit.

Weaver plays the part of Masha for as many laughs as she can gather, which are numerous. Every step she takes on the stage, every gesture, every facial expression, every line of dialogue feels like a performance, as if her toughest audience are the two siblings she left behind in the old homestead.

I’m not sure if Durang’s play will live on as one of his finest. It’s certainly in line artistically with his previous work. He has a way of creating believable characters in strange circumstances, even if his dialogue feels stretched into never-neverland (Snow White turns up, plus voodoo dolls and, in the funniest moment of the play, Dame Maggie Smith). Using Chekhov references throughout the piece is a nice wink to the learned theatergoers in the crowd.

Director Nicholas Martin lets the spotlight fall on each of the characters. He is especially skillful during the actor’s individual monologues. Hyde Pierce delivers a screed against modern society, while Nielsen offers a touching phone call with a possible suitor. The skill in which Martin slows down the action during these somber moments and then speeds it up for the belly laughs is an art form unto itself.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is funny, clever commentary on so many ills of today’s world.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

• By Christopher Durang

• Directed by Nicholas Martin

• Starring Sigourney Weaver, David Hyde Pierce, Kristine Nielsen, Billy Magnussen and Shalita Grant

• Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

• Currently playing at the Golden Theatre at 252 W. 45th St. in New York City.

• Rating: