Uncle Vanya, BBC Four, 10pm, 30.12.20

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  • Nick Armstrong
    Host
    • Nov 2010
    • 26523

    Uncle Vanya, BBC Four, 10pm, 30.12.20

    This looks promising, with Toby Jones, Roger Allam et al. - a production stopped in its tracks after opening early this year and reworked for the small screen:

    Anton Chekhov’s tender exploration of human frailty, filmed during 2020's lockdown.


    Will certainly be recording and giving it a watch.

    "...the isle is full of noises,
    Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
    Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
    Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."

  • eighthobstruction
    Full Member
    • Nov 2010
    • 6432

    #2
    Originally posted by Nick Armstrong View Post
    This looks promising, with Toby Jones, Roger Allam et al. - a production stopped in its tracks after opening early this year and reworked for the small screen:

    Anton Chekhov’s tender exploration of human frailty, filmed during 2020's lockdown.


    Will certainly be recording and giving it a watch.

    ....any chance this might be a bit like Fawlty Towers....
    bong ching

    Comment

    • Bryn
      Banned
      • Mar 2007
      • 24688

      #3
      Originally posted by Nick Armstrong View Post
      This looks promising, with Toby Jones, Roger Allam et al. - a production stopped in its tracks after opening early this year and reworked for the small screen:

      Anton Chekhov’s tender exploration of human frailty, filmed during 2020's lockdown.


      Will certainly be recording and giving it a watch.

      Hmm. Must catch that on the iPlayer.

      Comment

      • gurnemanz
        Full Member
        • Nov 2010
        • 7381

        #4
        Coincidentally, just set recorder but will probably watch real time. Really missing live theatre. Seen a few Vanyas over the years. Latest one only last summer in Bath with the very watchable Rupert Everett as Vanya , also directing in David Hare's new translation. Katherine Parkinson excellent as Sonya. .

        Comment

        • Leinster Lass
          Banned
          • Oct 2020
          • 1099

          #5
          Originally posted by Nick Armstrong View Post
          This looks promising, with Toby Jones, Roger Allam et al. - a production stopped in its tracks after opening early this year and reworked for the small screen:

          Anton Chekhov’s tender exploration of human frailty, filmed during 2020's lockdown.


          Will certainly be recording and giving it a watch.

          Toby Jones AND Roger Allam - riches indeed!
          (If you're a Roger Allam fan, you might be interested in my latest post on the 'Speech Radio' thread)

          Comment

          • ostuni
            Full Member
            • Nov 2010
            • 549

            #6
            We saw this in the theatre in March: the last play before lockdown. Highly recommended: superb performances, and a particularly atmospheric set design.

            Comment

            • Leinster Lass
              Banned
              • Oct 2020
              • 1099

              #7
              Originally posted by ostuni View Post
              We saw this in the theatre in March: the last play before lockdown. Highly recommended: superb performances, and a particularly atmospheric set design.
              Now Toby Jones OBE!

              Comment

              • eighthobstruction
                Full Member
                • Nov 2010
                • 6432

                #8
                ....ah the ubiquitous Toby....made it half way through this time (further than usual)....I was pulling for Sonya, I hope it all goes well for her in the end....best staged and acted I have ever seen....the last I watched with Johnathon Price was done on a veranda....this one very good -a warmth to it rather than the verbous snappy despair i have seen before....it was like Fawlty Towers - a lot of waving arms about with Toby playing Manuel.....Richard Armitage held the thing together....
                bong ching

                Comment

                • smittims
                  Full Member
                  • Aug 2022
                  • 4086

                  #9
                  'Uncle Vanya' is one of my favourite plays; I read it often and imagine a staging. I was deeply disappointed by this film. If someone had wanted to put people off Chekhov this was the way to do it. Several of the chracters seemed miscast to me, Sonya for instance, played as a vulgar bumpkin.

                  Comment

                  • DracoM
                    Host
                    • Mar 2007
                    • 12960

                    #10
                    Apparently, no longer available on iPlayer...................alas!

                    Comment

                    • gurnemanz
                      Full Member
                      • Nov 2010
                      • 7381

                      #11
                      I generally like Roger Allam but in this case I would have liked to see Ciaran Hinds as the Professor. He took the role in the original stage version but wasn't available for the film.

                      Comment

                      • french frank
                        Administrator/Moderator
                        • Feb 2007
                        • 30250

                        #12
                        In 2004, R3 did a "Radio 3" type production called Uncle Varick, set in the north-east of Scotland. Sometimes, one just wants …
                        It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

                        Comment

                        • smittims
                          Full Member
                          • Aug 2022
                          • 4086

                          #13
                          Ohhh! don't get me started. My bete-noire is these productions where 'we've re-located it to Sarajevo to make it more relevant'.

                          Comment

                          • Ein Heldenleben
                            Full Member
                            • Apr 2014
                            • 6754

                            #14
                            Originally posted by DracoM View Post
                            Apparently, no longer available on iPlayer...................alas!
                            Yes it’s untimely removal is , in itself , a Chekhovian moment of bitter regret enhanced by imperfect memory.

                            Comment

                            • french frank
                              Administrator/Moderator
                              • Feb 2007
                              • 30250

                              #15
                              Originally posted by smittims View Post
                              Ohhh! don't get me started. My bete-noire is these productions where 'we've re-located it to Sarajevo to make it more relevant'.
                              I think in the case of Radio 3 it's killing two birds with one stone: the new production is a new commission - part of the station remit - and also a 'classic' work. If any other part of the BBC were regularly broadcasting theatre, there might be a place for R3's quirky take on classic drama. But theatre on television has virtually disappeared, and radio 'drama' most often means modern 'written for radio' work.
                              It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

                              Comment

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