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Arts and Entertainment

From Russia to Durango

Fort Lewis College stages three one-acts by Anton Chekhov

When Ivan Vasilyevich (the twitchingly charming Austin Minard) courts Natasha Stepanova (the smartly outspoken Camille Libouban-Gundersen), his marriage proposal gets seriously sidetracked.

First, he’s nervous. Second, a casual mention of a field at the edge of their conjoint estates combusts into a heated argument over ownership. Third, an aside about their beloved pets, Spotter and Sprinter, erupts into an angry dispute over which dog is superior.

In this boiling kettle of conversational borsht, Ivan’s proposal gets totally lost. When the pugnacious young lovers get started, all you can do is laugh.

Credit the great realist Anton Chekhov for his wry look at fellow Russians at the turn of the last century. Credit the Fort Lewis College Department of Theatre for selecting a trio of Chekhovian works about off-kilter, combative love.

Performed in the Gallery Theatre as an in-the-round offering, “A Chekhovian Sonata: Love in Three Movements” runs this weekend, Friday and Saturday only.

At a dress rehearsal last week, the five-member cast was more than performance-ready. Guest Director Cheryl McFarren from Denison University has framed the evening with balalaika music and two of Chekhov’s well-known short plays. Period costumes and a spare set suggest a Russian manor house. In “The Bear” and “The Proposal,” the director evokes the playwright’s heritage simply with an Oriental rug, a few chairs, a servant’s bell and a framed portrait of Chekhov himself.

The inner play, “The Bride,” is a contemporary adaptation of a 1903 Chekhov story with modern dress, language and references. It takes place at a fancy Denver engagement party, involves a family law firm, traditions and a status-loaded argument over the youngest sibling. To evoke this world, the old manor-house rug is gone and two benches replace the chairs. Crowd noise hovers in the air, and wine glasses abound.

As each character slips away from the big party to the private benches, the plot and relationships mysteriously unfold. Nadia Kovak (the wonderfully focused Chloe Speshock) is quietly troubled as her friend Sasha (Libouban-Gundersen) draws her out. Nadia’s status-conscious brother Evan (a perfectly-pitched, arrogant Kenneth Breece) and Nadia’s fiance, Andrew, arrive. The quartet is complete and tensions unfurl. Actor James Rollins effectively plays the intended bridegroom, a quieter version of the bombastic creditor, Smirnov, portrayed by Rollins in “The Bear.”

Through fragmentary dialogue and a multitude of pauses, Nadia’s personal dilemmas unspool. Contemporary in style and look, this adaptation is almost Pinteresque with its odd stops and starts, blank spots and occasional obscenities. The all-too-modern theme of identity layers into family expectations, and romantic love doesn’t hold much cache. It’s a remarkable contrast to the more formal Chekhovian comedies that bookend the evening.

Battle of the sexes? Chekhov is more complicated than that. The FLC evening of one-acts is a sharp, double-edged love affair. If you have Russian friends or have traveled to that sprawling country, you’re familiar with a cultural tendency toward combativeness. Chekhov observed the volatility of social relations and the tendency to quick insult and argument and turned all that into human comedy.

Chekhov has found boon companions in the company of Elkins, McFarren, the student actors and crew at Fort Lewis College. Don’t miss it.

jreynolds@durangoherald.com. Judith Reynolds is a Durango writer, art historian and arts journalist.

If you go

“A Chekovian Sonata: Love in Three Movements,” Fort Lewis College Department of Theatre, Gallery Theatre, directed by Dennis Elkins, departmental chairman, and guest director Cheryl McFarren, Denison University. 7:30 p.m. Feb. 20, 21. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for FLC faculty and staff and free for FLC students with ID and are available at the Welcome Center on Main Avenue or at the door. Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes.



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