review theatre: Ivanov | Pentameters | Russia | Anton Checkhov

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The Review - THEATRE by JOSH LOEB
Published: 22 January 2009

Ego and deep self-loathing meet in small town Russia

IVANOV
Pentameters

SMALL town Russia in the late 1800s must have been a miserable place.
Chekhov’s plays are chock-a-block with sorrowful men necking vodka by moonlight and bored young women longing to go to Moscow.
This work, the great playwright’s earliest success, is no exception.
Ivanov (Harry Meacher, pictured, who also directs) is a tortured soul caught between egoism and guilt as his wife lies on her deathbed.
Sasha (Georgia Cardy) declares her love for him, thus prompting the old man to imagine a new life with her – before sinking back into his familiar routine of
self-loathing.
This might not sound a laugh a minute, but a farcical vein helps sweeten the pill, as do the charming surroundings of Pentameters and some shrewd casting.
Bryan Hands as dotty Count Shabelsky and Roger Sansom as troublemaker Borkin provide comedic distraction from the general gloom.
Naiveté is pitched against cynicism, and honour against dishonour, as the play builds towards its abrupt finale.
Anna (Judi Bowker) is a Jewess whose father refused her a dowry when she converted to Christianity and married Ivanov.
As her health deteriorates, her doctor accuses Ivanov of trying to enrich himself through her and of letting her fall by the wayside as he cavorts with a new woman
It is never clear if Ivanov is guilty of such malice or just a victim of coincidence.
But in the final scene he surprises all by acting with a sense of honour and finally mastering his own destiny.
Until February 7
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