By David Walters
If you see the Krymov Lab NYC production of Uncle Vanya, scenes from country life at La MaMa, you will never be able to see any other production of Uncle Vanya in quite the same way. It’s that magnificent and that profound. (Caution: a small bit of a spoiler alert below.)
I’m going to assume you know of Chekhov’s play Uncle Vanya and its general sense. So, I will leave that and instead tell you about the magic that’s been created out of Chekhov’s classic story. It might as just have been called, “Everyone Wants Something from Yelena.”
The floor in the large Ellen Stewart Theatre is pure white, reaching all the way to the back wall of the theater where it climbs to the ceiling with a floor-to-rafters black impressionistic sketch of a country scene, buildings, road, fence, and fields. Visually striking.
Onto the empty stage a faceless robot, built from scrap wood, rolls out on the floor with a sign affixed to it saying, “Empty stage.” It then rolls off stage and comes back several more times with new signs, “Summer,” and “Countryside.” The simplicity and unexpectedness of this opening is surprising and elicits chuckles from the crowd.
And then on comes a person in a large white chicken costume (MaryKate Glenn) holding a mechanical yellow baby chick. The large chicken then puts the chick down and mothers it as it roams around the stage. At this point Yelena (Shelby Flannery) arrives in 19th century traveling clothes and tells the hen (through signing) that she plans to change into her summer clothes there in the field. She does so, getting half way done, when in march all the other characters (Dr. Astrov, Telegin, Uncle Vanya, Mama, a black rooster, the hen and her chick, Nanny, Serebryakov, and Sonya) who put down chairs, sit, and watch Yelena scramble in embarrassment only being able to get half-dressed before one-by-one they accost her, telling her their troubles and expecting her to grant them solace for all their grief and longing.
It’s a destructive production, tearing apart and discarding the edifice of place and exposing the raw person-to-person essence of Chekhov’s characters. Loss, unrequited love, desire, a life of failure, greed, thoughtlessness, vegetarianism, murder, tenderness, despair, festering emotional wounds, selfishness, obsessions, it’s all there. There in an absurdist, comical, over the top, gut punching, tear inducing quality of presenting that makes not only a great production, but something that you will carry with you forever. Dare I say, in a theatrical sense, life changing.
I’m going to leave you with a quote from the writer/director that I feel speaks not only about this production, but the times we currently inhabit that inspired this work.
“In a world poised on the brink of collapse, people stand powerless — unable to act, unable to choose — left only with the fragile right to laugh and weep at the absurdity of their own helplessness.” Dmitry Krymov.
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La MaMa, in association with Krymov Lab NYC, presents Uncle Vanya, scenes from country life.
Written and directed by Dmitry Krymov.
Cast: Amen Igbinosun, MaryKate Glenn, Anya Zicer, Colin Buckingham, Javier Molina, Natalie Battistone, Sasha Drey, Shelby Flannery, Tim Eliot, and Zach Fike Hodges.
Creatives: Emona Stoykova, Production Design; Krista Smith, Lighting Design; Luna Gomberg, Costume Design; Leah Ogawa, Puppet Design; Yana Biryukova, Projection Design; Denis Zabikaya, Sound Design.
Playing through April 12, 2026 at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theatre, 66 East 4th Street, NYC 10003.
90 minutes with no intermission.
Tickets are $60 for general admission, $45 for students/seniors, and $30 student/senior rush (as available at the door). For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit here. Well worth the price of admission.
Triggers: bright lights, loud noises, and gun shots.
Tidbit: the play Uncle Vanya, published in 1897, was a reworking of The Wood Demon, a play Chekov had written ten years earlier.
Tatyana Khaikin, Krymov Lab NYC Producer, Interpreter, and Casting Director; Tim Eliot, Krymov Lab NYC Producer; Ampersand Theatrical Management, General Manager; Shari Perkins, Dramaturg; Zach Jenkins, Production Manager; Calan Britz, Technical Director; Patrick Dunning, Stage Manager; Kate Willard, Assistant Stage Manager; Marina Levitskaya, Photography.
