The Daily Bruin - October 7, 1999

"Family Lessons"
Terry Tang

New cast members work with original actors to lend a different flavor to a classic piece of theater in 'Uncle Vanya'

There's much to be said for a playwright whose work still resonates a century after its debut. But Anton Chekhov almost stopped "Uncle Vanya" before it could start because of his dislike for the Moscow Art Theatre's interpretation.

Well, despite the conflict, the show did go on and is still going.

Opening tonight at the Geffen Playhouse and running until Oct. 31, "Uncle Vanya" is the first play of the Geffen's 1999-2000 season.

The historic play tells the story of a Russian professor named Vanya who has been forced to live and work as a farmer. However, the humdrum lifestyle of Vanya and his crony, Dr. Astrov, is disarrayed by the arrival of Vanya's wealthier brother-in-law and his idle second wife.

Aside from trying to revitalize this classic piece of theater, the show's cast got an intense learning experience, thanks to husband-and-wife co-directors, Michael Langham and Helen Burns.

Langham, who will be directing Chekhov's "The Three Sisters" at UCLA's Little Theater in March, maintains a no-nonsense work ethic with his passion for theater.

"We've worked with actors here who started the rehearsal process hating Michael, just hating the experience," said Stephen Pelinski, who worked with Langham on a previous production of "Uncle Vanya" three years ago.

"I've been through several before so I could see (why) because he's so demanding and ruthlessly honest with his actors. So there's no sugarcoating, no stroking of egos. But these same people, three weeks later, say 'I would follow him. I would do it all over again. Knowing what I know now, I would enter the crucible and do it all over again.' There's no other director I've worked with like him."

Pelinski, who plays the cynical Dr. Astrov, is not the only returning player from Langham's production of "Uncle Vanya" at the Atlantic Theatre Festival in Nova Scotia. Actress Megan Follows, who is likely familiar to audiences for her portrayal of the title character in the "Anne of Green Gables" TV movies, is reprising the role of Vanya's dutiful niece, Sonya.

"I enjoyed being involved in the first production I did with them at the Atlantic Theatre Festival," Follows said in a telephone interview.

"And I'm always fascinated by the work Michael and Helen do. I find them incredibly demanding and challenging and really interesting. Sometimes it's deeply frustrating and that's all part of the growing process with them."

The production was a mini-reunion of sorts for Pelinski, Follows and Peter Donat - who plays Sonya's father, Serebryakov, and has also performed in "Uncle Vanya" with them before. Still, returning to Chekhov's material was hardly a tab-A-in-slot-B process.

"It's always like attacking something again, kind of anew," Follows said. "We just sort of dissected it again and went at it."

Pelinski sees that, for actors who have tackled the roles in previous incarnations of "Uncle Vanya," rehearsing is almost like starting over. With different actors, there is different chemistry. Thus, nuances which might have worked before no longer click.

"I think it was more difficult ... in some respect for the people who've worked on the production before. It's not a remount. I've worked on two productions with Michael that were 'remounted,'" Pelinski said. "The actors take nothing for granted. It's all reinvested."

Meanwhile, in an industry that can be extremely hard to break into, both actors have been able to carve successful careers in the theater.

Pelinski, who has performed mostly with the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minn., has performed nationally, from Virginia to Alaska, as well as internationally.

"I worked in Greece in a production of 'Antigone.' It was an American company (that) performed in Greece and in Cypress in an ancient amphitheater. That experience, being in the birthplace of drama, I found to be incredibly energizing," Pelinski said. "I've been very fortunate to create a career in the theater as my sole form of income."

Although Follows has extensive TV and film experience, she has no preference for any one medium and says that she is just glad to be working. The actress recently filmed a third installment of playing Anne Shirley in "Anne the Continuing Story," set to air on PBS later this season. A huge fan following, good timing and her own fondness for the character lured Follows to do a new miniseries.

"There's not a lot of female characters out there that are defined by the content and the quality of their minds and their personality," said Follows, who is still surprised when people recognize her in public.

"Still ... often times, women are 'the girlfriend of' or they're depicted in some way where they're always defined more often than not (by) their sexual validity," Follows said. "So, I've always found Anne refreshing because she was first and foremost a person."

Although Sonya is several years older than the adolescent Anne, both characters harbor an unflattering self-perception that they aren't beautiful just because they don't have the ideal looks.

"With Sonya, I sort of think what we achieve for is the fact that it's really more the essence of what she feels or the flashiness of what is called beautiful as opposed to the essence," said Follows, whose Sonya is hopelessly in love with Pelinski's Dr. Astrov.

"Because of his alcoholism and his own cynicism at the world, he doesn't see the real kind of intimacy and beauty that he could have. And I sort of think that's what Chekhov was writing about," Follows said. "(Dr. Astrov has) projected (affection) onto the one who's visibly beautiful and showy, but she's not a contributor to the world in the way that he is. And the one who is, he can't see. So, it's sort of an nteresting commentary on people."

Source: The Daily Bruin