Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Christopher Durang's embraceable comedy, "Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike," starts by running riffs on the well-known work of others, his favored mode for most of his career, and then sneaks in some emotional resonance.
You hardly see it coming, this sentimental frisson. Up to then, Mr. Durang has entertained us with comic irreverence and parody, all flitting by like brightly colored birds in an aviary of wit. But at some point you feel that froth goes only so far, and just about then (or perhaps a little after) the play grasps hold of something more substantial.
2 comments:
It is no small task to pull from the work of others for inspiration and at the same time not use to much of others' work in your own. Christopher Durang seems to find a happy balance between these two things, however. What Christopher Durang does in several of his plays is rather impressive. I think it takes a great artist to pull exactly the element they are looking for from other artists and highlight in such a way that it is useful for what they want to say. The great part about Durang's work is that he is not only gaining popularity for himself but also spreading awareness of the great writers like Chekhov to audiences who may not have picked up "The Cherry Orchard" before seeing "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike."
I saw this production of "Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike," and I thought it was excellent. First of all, the play itself was a perfect balance of being hilarious and sending a message about the importance of family. It was really a ver entertaining, "feel good" show. PLUS there's the added cool-factor that our very own Joe Pino did the sound and Susan Tsu the costumes! The costumes were especially fun to see because My classmates and I could almost see susan in some of the character's costumes. It's neat to see how a designer's aesthetic and personal style can be incorporated into their designs.
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