REVIEW: Afterplay, Studio Theatre, Salisbury
Set in Moscow in the early 1920s, Brian Friel’s Afterplay consists of a brief encounter between two fictional Chekhov characters – Sonya, niece of Uncle Vanya, and Andrey, brother of Three Sisters.
Directed by Lesley Bates, Studio Theatre’s amusing and touching interpretation of this one-act play won the Totton Festival of Drama earlier this year and it’s easy to see why.
A violin plays to set the scene and the audience is transported to a rundown Moscow café where Sonya (Rachel Fletcher), preoccupied with the finances and survival of her family estate, sits with a cup of tea pouring over paperwork. After much negotiation with the grumpy café ‘gorgon’, Andrey (George Goulding) appears wearing shabby dress suit and carrying a violin and a bowl of cabbage soup (with brown bread). He is keen to become better acquainted with Sonya after a chance meeting the night before. She, less interested in him, is too polite to reject his imposition.
The vodka flows and conversations of chapped lips and chilblains and the goodness of brown bread move to far deeper areas. As the play evolves, it becomes apparent that Andrey hasn’t been completely honest and, after his fables unfold, we learn that Sonya has her own secret to hide.
With a haunting Chekhovian theme, this remarkable and moving production is essentially about two lonely people finding solace in each other’s company.
Rachel Fletcher beautifully conveys the strength and resilience of the seemingly forlorn Sonya, while George Goulding is loveable as the yarn-spinning Andrey, bringing timely comic moments to break the despair of an otherwise intense production.
Director Lesley Bates cleverly packs a vast emotional scope into this 50-minute, one-act play, with a simple, dimly-lit cafe set ably transporting you back to 1920s, Chekhovian Russia.
Staged over two-nights, Studio Theatre's winning interpretation of Afterplay also scooped awards for Best Director, Best Actress and Technical Achievement at the Totton Festival of Drama earlier this year.
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