Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” will make its Duke debut this November. The show is in the very early stages of rehearsal, but the performance promises to be a memorable one.
“I would go as far as to say that this is a nontraditional production, one that’s exploring a variety of ideas about what realism can be,” said director and Theater Studies professor, Jeff Storer.
Along with a fresh interpretation, Duke’s “Uncle Vanya” will incorporate live original music and a cast trained by a professional movement consultant. However, the cast’s preparation does not end there. Every involved student, from the stage director to Uncle Vanya himself, is required to attend a course dedicated to the play. Storer will be teaching the class alongside the production’s dramaturg and Duke’s visiting lecturer Jules Odendahl-James.
This thorough approach is required in order to successfully use the talented cast and crew. Bart Matthews, a Duke graduate and freelance theater composer, will attend every rehearsal to write a carefully integrated score for the entire show.
“The more involved I am in the creative process from the theatrical point of view helps me to tailor the music to every moment—not just the traditional transitional music, but all the moments that could occur in between,” said Matthews. Storer and Matthews collaborated before on Duke’s 2011 production of “The Laramie Project.”
Matthews, who will perform his score live during the show, is also calling upon “Uncle Vanya” actors to help create the music, citing varied talents from vocals to violin.
The cast will be focused on not only lines and music, but movement as well. Storer has selected a professional movement consultant from Brown University’s MFA program and the Trinity Repertory Company. The consultant also has a background in clowning, which will help the actors draw out the comedy from the piece.
“'Uncle Vanya’ will require students to play roles that are a great deal older than themselves, and I think that movement is absolutely key to any process where actors are developing character,” said Storer.
The show has been conceived from every angle. Even the casting process was influenced by a variety of factors—Storer has double-cast certain leads and selected a multi-racial troupe.
“This cast reflects Duke University and I would not have chosen to do a play that was not a reflection of our student body,” Storer said. Similarly, one motivator for his choosing Chekhov was that “’Uncle Vanya’ seemed like a play everyone could get behind.”
Mike Myers, junior and a lead in the show, explained that he is excited to work with the piece. “It’s great to work with a classic play that we’ve all read and that everybody knows. We do a lot of experimental theater in the department, but it’s nice sometimes to be rooted in the classics.”
Although it may seem that every aspect of the play has been thoroughly planned, one key component will be left up in the air.
“I love this play. I’m going to stay faithful to the adaptation, and tell the story with as much passion as I have for the play itself. What the audience takes away from the story, in the way we tell it, is up to them,” said Storer.
“Uncle Vanya” opens on Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. in the Sheafer Theater in the Bryan Center. For more information, visit http://theaterstudies.duke.edu/productions
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