Old Souls, Young Voices: An Ambitious Uncle Vanya from BeeKind Theater Company

by Ash Kotter

Though I’m now very many years removed from academia, I’ve retained enough of my studies to recall that Anton Chekhov’s plays are… heavy.  I mean that in the weight-bearing sense for an actor’s muscles. His dialogue is stylized, lyrical, and certainly not effortless speech, even within a world of theatrical realism. An admittedly reductive summary for this review, Chekhov shines light into the corners of the human experience we tend to associate with more years on earth: failure, loss, suffering. Uncle Vanya follows a household as they care for an aging professor and his much younger wife, while the bitter realization of wasting the best years of their lives unravels their estate. To place Vanya in the hands of young adults seems like handing them the heaviest plates on the rack and daring them to find the strength. But youth-led BeeKind Theater Company staged an ambitious Uncle Vanya at The Blue Moon Theater, without their knees buckling under the barbell.

In his directorial debut, Dom Traini chose no lighter fare to ease into directing but a text that demands patience, precision, and stillness. Stillness, and all its power, is deceptively difficult to achieve, especially for young actors who may knee-jerk into filling silences with movement. Chekhov demands a willingness to sit in the ache and to let pauses breathe. Traini’s output with Vanya demonstrated the instincts of an effective coach, navigating his ensemble through each rep. As set and costume designer, Traini crafted a space that felt lived-in yet intentionally sparse, suggesting a house that has seen more thought than action; a ladder that appeared to be abandoned mid-project, a typewriter devoid of paper. Costumes were suggestive of age, status, and disposition. And Traini trusted his actors to fill in the rest.

Charlie Temple as Vanya captured the restless energy of a man who realizes, far too late, he’s spent a lifetime in service to the wrong cause. Bursts of rage landed with power because they were grounded by his long stretches of ironic reflection laced with gallows humor. It’s easy for an actor to give her audience a Sonya that’s a statue of suffering —  Avery Frost delivered a Sonya with fragile hope and optimism, not just heartbreak. As Alexander, the Professor, Harrison LaBarbera captured (and I say this with the highest compliment) a Goldblum-esque arrogance of a man past his prime, declaring an authority he no longer deserves, contrasting with the frailty in his physicality. 

Isabella Scythes understood the stillness assignment with Yelena; her poised restraint and measured gestures made clear why the household revolved around her, even when she seemed unwilling to move herself.  Michael Matteo as Astrov carried a witty, wry edge, with humor that kept the role from sinking into pure bleakness. William Baker’s Waffles was a delight, his optimism shining through his misfortune. His sweetness rendered me feeling incredibly guilty for laughing at Waffles, but to be fair, I chuckled at his delivery, not his circumstances.

Marisa Landi as Vanya’s mother, Mrs. Voinitsky, embodied her intellectual detachment, with her nose often buried behind a book; however when she spoke, her sharp convictions cut cleanly. As Marina, Gracie Simpkins was a calm, nurturing presence, giving the household much-needed stability. And Nicole Hoffman’s Watchman reminded us that there was a world outside this family’s emotional turmoil.

Mason Corey’s lighting bathed the space in amber tones that softened the intimate playing space, which gave the room a subtle glow, an appropriate overtone for the glimmers of hope that Traini sought to emphasize as indicated in his director’s note. Nicole Hoffman’s makeup design added delicate but not-overdone traces of age when needed. The graphic design of cast member Isabella Scythes tied the production together visually, from programs to promotional materials that established a unified aesthetic of intentional artistry. Congratulations to the leadership of stage manager King Witherspoon and BeeKind Co-Founders/Producers Hannah Da’Quilla and Christopher Tighe.

As Traini wrote, “Uncle Vanya is a show about wasted time and the unhappiness that comes with it, but also the hope of a brighter tomorrow.” The real hope is in this ambitious theatre company serving as a gym for young artists, offering resistance training where stillness becomes endurance, and trial and error are spotted with care. These young performers are building muscle that will, potentially and hopefully, hold up the stages of our local community theatres as they grow and mature into their skillsets. I encourage you, readers, to continue to support BeeKind Theater Company — not just because they’ve proven they can handle their weight with Chekhov, but because I left their presence reminded that the brighter tomorrow is already here, in rehearsal, learning how to lift.

Follow BeeKind on Facebook, and Instagram @beekindtheatercompany.