READING CHEKHOV
Though filled with Chekhov references, Mr. Guingona said there’s no need to read the Russian playwright’s oeuvre before watching the show. “In fact, they will want to read Chekhov after watching this,” he said. “The situation and the language is very contemporary. First of all, it’s very now. It’s these middle- aged people who is lost in this new world but they are trying to fit in.” He said the 19th century playwright sought to redefine theater. “Chekhov proved that there’s drama with people sitting down and talking. All the most important things happened offstage and then the cast comes in and talk about it. Then this guy (Christopher Durang) decides to take Chekhov and push the analogue further by setting it now,” said Mr. Guingona.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is Ms. Gil’s comeback to comedy — the last time she worked for laughs was when she was in the classic 1980s comedy gag television show, Champoy with Subas Herrero, Noel Trinidad, Tessie Tomas, Mitch Valdes, and Gary Lising — and she said that she’s getting into the zone.
“I want to break the ice now and look at it in a more light-hearted way,” she said.
Mr. Guingona said another thing to look forward to in the play is Mr. Williams’ four page-long monologue at the end of the show. The Vanya character, he said, is a stand-in for the writer — he’s the one that observes and “puts out the fire by pissing on it.”
“It has this nostalgic thing where you suddenly realized that, you know, your parents may not be so bad after all because they are humans like you. It’s fine. So they could relate to the young ones,” he said.
Ms. Gil added: “It will mirror to you what life was like to us. Our generation has become frustrated and a little bit intimidated because we have to keep up with the tide. What we will replicate is how we dealt with that back in our generation and how wonderful those days were.” — Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike opens Jan. 20 and runs until Feb. 12 at the OnStage Theater, Greenbelt 1, in Makati City. For inquiries, call Rep at 843- 3570, and TicketWorld at 891-9999, or log on to www. ticketworld. com.ph.