Uncle Vanya: Oxford students take on Chekhov at Keble’s O’Reilly

With a full cast and crew composed entirely of talented students at Oxford, Fennec Fox Productions returns with Chekhov’s tragicomedy in Robert Icke’s lucid, contemporary version of Uncle Vanya, performed expertly with a modern twist.

The Synopsis

On the edge of a dwindling forest, Sonya waits for life to begin while her uncle John (Icke’s anglicised Vanya) believes his has already passed. Work fills the days; regret colours the nights. As the environment breaks down around them, the family’s tensions boil over.

‘There’s a dark, demon thing – desperate to destroy, lurking in all of you. Nothing is spared. Not trees, not birds, not women, not each other…’

After acclaimed productions of Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children and Ella Hickson’s The Writer, Fennec Fox Productions returns to tackle Chekhov’s ecological masterpiece.

About this production

Robert Icke compares his approach to adaptation to the necessity of using a plug adapter when travelling abroad; without it, no electricity will flow. His approach to Uncle Vanya is no different, and he updates it to a gently contemporary moment – not the 21^st century exactly, but a time not unlike it. The characters speak in an energised, sinewy contemporary register, and the play’s characters have been lightly streamlined; the watchman typical on Russian estates is replaced by the periodic beep of a security alarm.

Otherwise, this is Uncle Vanya as Chekhov intended, and this character-driven production digs deep into the character’s longings, disappointments and regrets. The stage will be a space akin to a terrarium. The local doctor Michael describes seeing the other characters as insects, or even bacteria – and our staging places the characters under a microscope. Above the stage will be a forest of the imagination, created by suspending a leafy canopy of branches in a design inspired by artist Cornelia Parker.

From the director

“Uncle Vanya is my favourite classic play. When done well, nothing can touch the sheer sense of atmosphere it creates, and I’ve been so excited to watch a richly realistic texture develop in rehearsals. The cast we are working with on this are so sensitive to Chekhov’s rhythms, and they are truly breath taking to watch.

The play is richly ecological, one of the first canonical plays to engage with what humans are doing to the ecosystem – and what this in turn does to the humans themselves. Michael’s palpable anguish at the destruction of the surrounding forests is a moving early depiction of solastalgia – grief at the environment irreversibly changing around you. Uncle Vanya beautifully depicts the way humans are tied to our environment, and the play seems ecological in its very structure – a system of interlocking, interdependent people never quite realising their full impacts on each other.

At the same time, Chekhov’s play depicts one of the greatest dysfunctional families in theatre. Seen through the outsider eyes of local doctor Michael, the family’s disputes, grievances and wounds create a pressure cooker in which any character could explode in many different ways. You’ll fall in love with them all just as we have.”

The Creative & Technical Team

Made entirely of students from the university of Oxford.

Director: Joshua Robey

While studying for a DPhil in contemporary theatre at Oxford, Josh has directed The Children (BT Studio) and The Writer (Michael Pilch Studio) to critical acclaim. He has also directed in Cambridge and London, with productions including Mr Burns: A Post Electric Play (ADC Theatre), Yellowfin (Pembroke Cellars, Cambridge), Vegas (Bread and Roses Theatre, Clapham) and The Corpse in the Room (Calder Theatre, Waterloo, and The Space, Isle of Dogs), which received glowing reviews at the Lambeth Fringe. He co-runs the London-based new writing company, Whole Headache Productions.

Producers: Frankie Maino and Emma Scanlon

Both Frankie and Emma have worked with Fennec Fox Productions since its inception. Frankie is the company’s resident producer, having produced The Writer (Michael Pilch Studio), and worked as an assistant producer on The Children (BT Studio). She has also acted and directed. Emma was the producer and an assistant director of The Children (BT Studio) and has worked in a range of other roles in Oxford theatre.

• Assistant Directors: Ivana Clapperton and Alys Young
• Assistant Producer: Elsa Vass De Zomba
• Production Manager: Sophia Eiden
• Set Designer: William Want
• Lighting Designer: Felix Gibbons
• LX: Sarah Webb
• Sound Designer: Caitlin Hawthorn
• Technical Manager: Jonathan Tanner
• Stage Manager: Pep Oosterhuis
• Marketing Manager: Hannah Wei
• Marketing Assistant: Georgia Beresford-Jones
• Graphic Designer: Emily White

The Cast

Like the crew, the cast is composed entirely of students at Oxford, and between them they’ve performed in over 30 shows at the university so far.

N.B. Icke has Anglicised characters’ names – most notably, the character usually named “Vanya” is called “John”. The play itself remains titled “Uncle Vanya”.

Reviews for past Fennec Fox productions

‘This is student theatre at its finest… Honestly, I was knocked out’,

President’s Husband Reviews on The Writer

‘Utterly absorbing… There’s a supreme level of confidence to every aspect of this production. Fennec Fox Productions have created something very special here: the most challenging, vivid, extraordinary production I’ve witnessed this year’,

The Oxford Blue on The Writer

‘superb realism and wit… like peering through a window into these characters’ lives’

The Oxford Blue on The Children

 Essential Info:

• O’Reilly Theatre (Keble College): Keble College, Oxford, OX1 3PG
• Recommended age guidance: 14+
• Approximate running time: 2 hours 30 minutes including 20 minute interval
• Weds 29th Oct–Sun 2nd Nov: evenings 7.30pm
• Prices are £8.50 for concessions (students, under 18s, people with disabilities & their carers) and £13.50 for adults (no additional booking fee)
• You can purchase tickets at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/fennec-fox-productions
• Content warnings: gunshots, use of a replica firearm, references to suicide and alcoholism