Uncle Vanya

Uncle Vanya – Theater Dortmund

The clock of life stands still.

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Is it a comedy, or a tragedy? In this acclaimed production of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya at Theater Dortmund, I set out to find the delicate balance between British humour and Russian soul. The result is a staging where time seems suspended, and every moment pulses with both heart and wit.

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Set in a present-day home office, the play opens with a whirlwind of chaos—papers flying, computers humming, and Vanya’s mission already hopeless. As the story unfolds, the audience is drawn into a world of unrequited love, restless nights, and vodka-fueled confessions, where the characters circle each other in a dance of longing and frustration.

My approach was not to reinvent Chekhov, but to trust his text and my ensemble, allowing the comic and the tragic to merge in scenes that are as funny as they are heartbreaking. Nothing changes, yet everything escalates—a testament to the timelessness of Chekhov’s vision.

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Uncle Vanya in Dortmund became an experiment in tact, restraint, and emotional honesty. The result: a production that left audiences unsure whether to laugh or cry, but always deeply moved.