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Uncle Vanya has opened at the Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne

Uncle Vanya has opened at the Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne, bringing a fresh, funny and emotionally engaging take on Anton Chekhov’s classic play to the stage. Directed by Anne-Louise Sarks, with Joanna Murray-Smith‘s adaptation bringing the story into the present through modern language, this production makes the characters and their frustrations feel far more accessible to a contemporary audience than the period setting might suggest.

Image: Catherine Van-Davies, Daniel Hensall, Photo: Pia Johnson

What it’s about

At its centre, Uncle Vanya is about the feeling that your life is passing by while you are waiting for something to change. It’s also very funny; the characters are messy, impulsive, and constantly making decisions that are clearly going to end badly. Watching them navigate their increasingly tangled relationships is both painful and hilarious, often in the same moment.

At the heart of it all is Vanya, who has spent years working hard to support his family and maintain the estate alongside his niece, Sonya. That fragile balance unravels the moment Sonya’s father, the retired, self-important Professor Serebryakov, arrives home with his much younger wife, Yelena.

Vanya falls for Yelena. So does the local doctor, Astrov. Sonya, meanwhile, is in love with Astrov, who doesn’t seem to notice her at all. Almost everyone is in love with the wrong person, while years of resentment and regret bubble away beneath the surface, and then the professor drops the news that he might sell the estate Vanya and Sonya have devoted their lives to maintaining. What follows is a family crisis, a romantic crisis, and something of an existential crisis, all colliding at once.

It’s a lot. But that collision is exactly what makes the play so entertaining, especially once Murray-Smith’s contemporary dialogue strips away any sense of distance. 

Image: Carolyn Bock, Philippa Northeast, Evelyn Krape, Daniel Henshall, Don Bridges, Catherine Văn-Davies, Shaun Micallef Photo: Pia Johnson

Cast

The cast is a major strength of the production, and it shows from the first scene. Daniel Henshall is excellent as Vanya, capturing the character’s frustration, regret and growing desperation while still finding the humour in a man beginning to question how he’s spent his life. Philippa Northeast is particularly impressive as Sonya, bringing warmth and comic timing to a performance that makes her unrequited love and loneliness genuinely affecting rather than simply pitiable.

Fayssal Bazzi brings plenty of energy to Astrov, the exhausted local doctor with a passion for forests, vodka and Yelena, eccentric, complicated and thoroughly entertaining to watch. Shaun Micallef is a standout as Professor Serebryakov, his sharp comic timing turning the self-important professor into exactly the kind of character you love watching while simultaneously wishing everyone else in the room would leave.

Rounding out the ensemble, Catherine Văn-Davies, Carolyn Bock, Don Bridges and Evelyn Krape create a group of characters who are dysfunctional and frustrating, and ultimately very easy to become invested in.

Image: Daniel Henshall, Photo Pia Johnson

Set, lighting and costume design

Visually, the production is just as impressive as its performances. Dann Barber’s set design shifts the stage between the outdoors and the interior of the estate, with trees and autumn leaves establishing a natural setting before the walls move in to reveal the family home. The effect builds a slow sense that the estate is closing in around the characters, mirroring how trapped so many of them feel by their own choices and circumstances. The trees, in particular, become more than scenery; at one point Vanya uses them as an outlet for his frustration, and the autumn setting reinforces the production’s sense of loss and stagnation, with falling leaves and dying trees echoing characters who are realising that time is passing and some opportunities may already be gone.

Paul Jackson’s lighting design deserves special mention. It’s subtle and moody throughout, working quietly in the background rather than drawing attention to itself, yet doing a lot of the emotional heavy lifting. Low, amber-tinted washes settle over the interior scenes, giving them a warm but faintly claustrophobic feel, as though the walls really are closing in under a fading afternoon light. 

The costumes add a further layer, blending the period setting with a contemporary fashion influence drawn from designers including John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood and Ralph Lauren.

Image: Philippa Northeast, Evelyn Krape, Photo: Pia Johnson

Why it works

What makes Uncle Vanya work is the balance it strikes between the funny and the painful. The characters are often ridiculous, but their problems are real; they are frustrated with their lives, they want things they can’t have, they regret the time they have lost, and they make terrible decisions they then have to live with. Basically, they are a mess, and that’s precisely why the production feels so relatable. You might not see yourself in Vanya’s exact situation. Still, you will likely recognise the feeling of being stuck, of wondering whether you’ve made the right choices, of wanting your life to be different without quite knowing how to change it.

Our verdict: Worth seeing

Particularly if you enjoy theatre that’s funny, dramatic and a little emotionally chaotic, or if you simply enjoy watching a group of deeply complicated people make increasingly questionable decisions.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

DATE: 21 Jul — 22 Aug 2026
VENUE: Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse
BOOK TICKETS

Content guide: contains occasional coarse language, mature themes and theatrical firearms. Recommended for ages 14+ / Years 9–12.

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