'A Month in the Country' review — this elegant production blends Russian ennui with Irish pastoralism

Read our review of A Month in the Country, starring Sophie Okonedo, now in performances at the Donmar Warehouse to 3 October.

Summary

• A Month in the Country plays at the Donmar Warehouse
• The production uses Brian Friel's translation of Turgenev
• Sophie Okonedo stars as flirtatious host Natalya
• The strong ensemble features Patrick Gibson; Alistair Petrie and Daniel Rigby

Following a hot, parched summer, it’s a pleasure to begin the autumn season with an abundance of greenery onstage. Lyndsey Turner’s elegant production of Turgenev’s 1850 (pre-Chekhov) domestic tragicomedy is set on a lush country lawn where the drawing-room furniture has been moved outdoors (designed by Leslie Travers). However, the garden is enclosed by a Perspex box pre-show and for the scene changes, indicating that the setting has the potential to be as oppressive as it is refreshing.

It is the home of Natalya Petrovna and Arkady Islayev, who play host to an ensemble of family members, visitors and people providing services but who are treated more like friends and servants. It’s like dropping in at a party at which there are no introductions. The relationships are in a constant state of flux and no one is quite sure what it is they want.

Brian Friel’s adaptation (first performed in 1992) has a pronounced informality, in which everyone is on first-name terms, and blends Russian ennui with Irish pastoralism and cultural references. Arkady insists that he’s building a weir, not a dam, and there are nods to Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy and the composer John Field (inventor of the nocturne). The costuming suggests the later 19th century, though the younger women’s milkmaid-style dresses feel very 2020s.

Natalya, whom Turgenev envisioned as being aged 29 (by modern standards, late 30s or early 40s would make sense for the character’s behaviour), is more mature in years with the casting of Sophie Okonedo. Natalya enjoys being adored by every man she encounters and falls for Aleksey, tutor to her son Kolya (who we never see), and even considers marrying off her 16-year-old ward Vera (an overly excitable Rachelle Diedericks) to the doddery Bolshintsov (Michael Hodgson) to get her out of the way. Okonedo, unfortunately, doesn’t seem quite right for the role; she has too much natural gravitas, and the coquettishness feels forced.

It's a production in which the men shine. The highly watchable Patrick Gibson employs his natural Irish accent as Aleksey, who has pulled himself up by his bootstraps and finds himself embroiled in an infatuation that seems all-consuming at the time but, as he comments, he’ll have forgotten about by Christmas. The standout performance comes from the beautifully understated Alistair Petrie as family friend Michael, who has a hopeless crush on Natalya but finds himself continually friend-zoned and scapegoated in a life “fated to bringing up the rear”.

The drama is also boosted by strong work from Thomas Arnold as the well-meaning husband Arkady and Susan Brown as his mother Anna, who has a pragmatic approach towards fidelity in marriage and doesn’t condemn her daughter-in-law.

Light relief from the angst is provided by German guest Herr Schaaf (Mark Hadfield) – it’s never clear why he is there, and his hosts have probably long forgotten – whose purpose is to drop English-but-actually-Russian malapropisms. Daniel Rigby is the local doctor who cultivates a jovial facade with an abundance of terrible “Doctor Doctor” jokes, but is in fact a comedian with a keenly depressive streak. The most decisive character, he offers a practical proposal to Lizaveta (Amanda Wilkin), who is defined by her secret snuff habit (we never learn whether she’s Natalya’s sister or a companion), and their chances of happiness seem as good as any.

At one point, Michael observes that love and boredom can be compatible and even desirable. It’s preferable to self-dramatising angst, which it seems unlikely that Natalya will ever fully outgrow.

A Month in the Country is at the Donmar Warehouse to 3 October.

Photo credit: A Month in the Country (Photos by Helen Murray)