Playwright: Anton Chekhov. At: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn. Phone: 312-443-3800; $10-$45. Runs through: Nov. 21
There's a reason why no writer ever went broke proclaiming the woes of the rich and privileged. The luxurious lifestyles of those cursed with too much money allows consumers of all demographics to indulge in private fantasies of material indulgence undiluted by social restraints. Thus are Chekhov's portraits of fin-de-siècle Russian aristocracy recalled nowadays less for the philosophical chitchat of their frustrated subjects than for their quaint, but oh-so-ornate stage decor and decorum.
Well, Robert Falls isn't letting us get away with it this time. The scenic country estate owned by famous actress Irina Arkadina and her reclusive brother, Sorin, is a bare wooden floor, and the wardrobe of the guests at this lakeside summer home is conspicuously casual, stopping just short of T-shirts and clamdiggers. And so, from the first moments forth, our characters' despair over existences rendered meaningless by genteel poverty, frustrated affections and/or self-imposed inertia remains unrelieved by distracting froufrou.
What rivets our attention during the three hours required for masters and servants alike to self-destruct, though, is the wholesale commitment of a dream-team acting ensemble that, after a seven-week rehearsal regimen rarely essayed in commercial theater, has plumbed the depths of their text, word by word and minute by minute. ( To cite one example: The play opens with servants carrying in a large rock to serve as, literally, a pedestal upon which Irina's son and would-be playwright, Konstantin, places the girl who will break his heart. ) This close scrutiny applies even to "offstage" personnel, who bide their time seated in a row of chairs where their activities in absence from the central action are visible to spectators.
Performance demands the labor of both performers and audience, making a production with no down time or throwaway speeches strenuous work, no matter what your part in its execution. The experience is well worth the effort, however, with the intimacy generated by this spartan approach illuminating the smallest secrets hidden beneath the surface of the most self-effacing personalities. Kelly O'Sullivan and Mary Beth Fisher may steal the show as, respectively, the forthright Masha and brassy Irina, but look for Francis Guinan and Janet Ulrich Brooks to give the often-ignored Sorin and Polina their moments in the light, too. Indeed, repeat viewings are advised, so densely layered are the multiple dimensions in this powerful interpretation of a familiar classroom-classic.