The Studio Theatre's "Afterplay" imagines what would happen if two characters from separate plays by the same author met in a Moscow caf?. Irish playwright Brian Friel delicately documents the dashed dreams of two down-and-out Russians first realized by the great Anton Chekhov. The result is a fleeting encounter of haunting power.
The production is brilliant in the details. The dusty and grimy stage has actual dust and grime. Debris and crushed leaves stir beneath the feet of the two actors. Glass clinks and the characters' scowls thicken the air with tension. "Afterplay" runs on an intimate stage, the perfect setting to pull together all the exquisite minutiae.
Sonya and Andrey are Chekhov's lost souls united by "Afterplay." Andrey (Edward Gero) is a gentlemanly street violinist who compulsively lies. Sonya (Nancy Robinette) is a lonely farmer whose estate is being torn apart by bankers. Many tender laughs come from the matter-of-fact Sonya discovering dreamy Andrey's little fables. Both roles are acted strongly with a sense of classical mastery.
The duo's interaction is reminiscent of those passing encounters that the mind replays again and again long past the moment. It's like when two people meet and they become each other's tormenting "What if?" Sonya turns down the connection she feels with Andrey in exchange for the infrequent attention of a married man she's been in love with since girlhood. The audience can look back at their own past loves, whom they may have desperately grasped on to beyond the point of reason.
The bumbly cuteness of Andrey, has audience members leaning forward in their chairs, begging Sonya to let the other beau go. Alas, tragedy is the outcome in the true spirit of Russian drama.
This is the sixth installment in the acclaimed Russian Winter series by The Studio Theatre. "Afterplay" makes its American debut from its opening in the West End of London. The runtime is about an hour, and the shortness of the play makes the emotional punch sting like a quick blow.
Tickets are $35-48.
