It’s one of the virtues of this production that it manages to convey (quite beautifully) the play’s relation to reality—which is essentially contrarian. Bob Crowley’s Act I set is both a symphony of non-realism and an ostentatious refusal to use the reality he has been given. Rather than capitalize on the outdoor setting at the Delacorte, he has constructed a breathtaking vista of artificial trees and landscaping that draws attention to its very fakery. Which is precisely what Chekhov was trying to do.
The play was Chekhov’s demonstration that you could take all the conventional Continue reading