Chapter 7 - “Ιf Only It Were Possible.” Time in Uncle Vanya’s Timeless Legacy

Summary

Directing has always been

a leap into the unknown, an encounter with someone else's world, which nev-ertheless […] makes you look back into yourself [and] unwittingly points you to unexpected angles from which to experience life and express things that are significant not only to you but also to your audience.

There is little point and not much joy in directing if you are not prepared to dig deep into the text in order to meet at least a part of yourself in it. The more you invest in this exploration, the more you feel that you have only begun to scratch the surface. Staging Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya has been one such visionary moment of artistic exploration for me, a journey of mental and psychological discoveries, where subliminal moments of creativity alter-nated with profound personal reflection.

I started working on the play in class, exploring its themes with MA direct-ing students at the Open University of Cyprus. In February 2023, I also conducted a practical workshop with theatre students at the University of Birmingham in the UK. Though originally skeptical about “doing Chekhov in the 21st century,” most students gradually became drawn to the play, responding warmly to its existential themes. Whether the play documents Vanya's process of disillusionment or is a tale of acceptance of human frailty for all characters is a matter of interpretation. My understanding of the text, which became the conceptual basis of the production I directed in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 2023, is that nothing much has changed between Vanya's time and ours. In this respect, there is no hope to share. Through Vanya, the spec-tators are bound to experience the failure of letting life simply pass them by, together with a sense of urgency, a “now or never” chance to free oneself from one's imprisoned self.

There is a list of plays in every director's mind—gifts for artists and for audiences alike. Uncle Vanya is certainly one of them. That said, I’ve always been both attracted to and estranged from Chekhov's infamous atmosphere, the notorious “heaviness” of mood, the intensity but—also—opacity of emo-tions. Most directors are aware that the play's reputation is its main enemy.