by Stewart Robson

For five performances only (sadly this not a full run), Dragonboy Productions have produced this adventurous adaption of five Chekov short stories: The Lady with the Little Dog, The Chemist’s Wife, At a Summer Villa, An Avenger and The Bear. Eliot Giuralarocca has skilfully adapted and directed these five stories. A brilliant cast of five, including Giuralarocca himself, give the stories a dynamic, farcical structure which plays brilliantly in the large space at Southwark Playhouse.

The stage is sparse. The premise is that this is a group of Russian travelling performers. Nothing is naturalistic. Instead, small props are used to indicate doorways, windows, and so forth. Impressively, all sound effects are also live and analogue; nothing is pre-recorded.

Beautifully incorporated throughout, most of the pieces include the cast singing Russian folk songs. Elisabeth Snegir in particular sings beautifully in Russian. Each of the actors ends up playing multiple characters throughout each of the stories as well as each playing musical instruments to accompany the songs. One criticism is that the singing isn’t used consistently throughout all the stories, which is a pity as they’re brilliantly performed.

It’s a show that makes huge demands of the cast, and they all perform to the highest standard. At a post-show Q&A, it is revealed that two of the cast members only had ten days to learn the entire show. Amazingly, I don’t think anyone could tell which two of the performers they were.

 What’s most refreshing about this adaptation is that Giuralarocca has been faithful to Chekhov without being deferential to him. This adaptation brings out the farce in Chekhov’s writing, and the strong emotional neuroses of the characters. Some British productions in the past have been guilty of taking his plays too seriously, but this is a very enjoyable evening of escapist fun. I look forward to seeing more of this company’s work in the future.

In and Out of Chekhov’s Shorts runs through 23 March.

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