Well, here’s value for money: two Chekhov plays for the price of one. The Union, together with ART theatre, filled my night with culture, art and romance. And, despite the demon rail strike, it was a full, if rather sweltering house, writes Lizzie Paul.
The Lady With The Dog is a tale of two loveless marriages, passion and, yes a cute little dog. Anna (Anna Viller) is a young and rather innocent married woman who strolls, unaccompanied, around the seaside with said dog in tow. She has the air of melancholy and a rather depressed girl. We find out her husband, while loaded, is dull as ditchwater and a complete doormat. Lurking in the sunshine watching her is Dmitri (James Viller). He is the opposite of Anna; pushing forty with greying hair, a married man with kids and a nagging wife with ‘thick eyebrows’. He is bored with his lot and spends his time having wild, meaningless affairs. In fact, you could describe him as a bit of a Flash Harry really – the sort of chap you meet on the fair who spins the waltzer faster ‘just for you’ but not really. He’s the sort of man who leaves a girl in a spin and hops on to the next car to spin that one too. There is something sultry and erotic in the air here – the crashing waves, the sunsets and, er, the large plate of watermelon. The way that Dmitri splits it open, enjoys it and offers a slice to Anna on a plate tells us all we need to know about the next scene, which is offstage. Phew.
The pair enjoy their holiday break together, forgetting the dull, dutiful life of which they have to return. When the dreaded time comes for them to part the scene is reminiscent of Brief Encounter, it’s all awkward words and stiff upper lip. You want them both just to run off into that sunset but no, they go their separate ways. However, as time passes Dmitri realises he is actually in love for the first time in his life and rushes off to find Anna. She is bored silly with her life and wants to be with Dmitri. In a nutshell they find each other and start a long-distance affair. But hold on! No happy ending? No sad ending? We are left unsatisfied and in the dark. Bugger.
In the second play, The Bear, awkward love is also the theme but this is more light-hearted. We are in the home of Elena Popova. Seven months into her widowhood and she is not coping well with her grief. She refuses to go out into the world, preferring to keep her promise of remaining faithful to the memory of her dead husband. She sits indoors, clad in black, almost in a tantrum and talking to a portrait of her dearly, dead, beloved. But we discover Elena’s other half was not so perfect and had disrespected her by cheating on her. He also left debts for her to sort out. Enter Grigory Smirnov, a man who wants paying immediately. Elena refuses, so he stays put until she weighs him out. He then challenges her to a duel! She accepts and goes off to get some guns. But Smirnov loves her spirit and falls in love with her. Just like that. Bonkers.
Union Theatre, OLD UNION ARCHES, 229 UNION STREET, LONDON SE1 0LR until 27 August 2022. Time: 7.30pm. Admission: £21, £18.
Booking: 020 7261 9876 – http://uniontheatre.biz
