The Arts Club Theatre Company’s production of Christopher Durang’s Tony Award winning comedy, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, is playing until April 19th at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage.
In spite of its references to the works of Chekov, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is a ridiculously topical comedy. The mash-up of the classics and the world of mobile phones and short attention spans masking as “multi-tasking” collide brilliantly in the cross generation cast. The male leads bookend the play; the always brilliant Jay Brazeau as Vanya, grounds the play with the hope of keeping things the same while Robert Salvador’s Spike strips off the ways of yesterday and brings the modern world into the monotonous day to day shared by Vanya and scattered, spinster sister Sonia (beautifully played by Susinn McFarlen). Hollywood diva sister Masha played by Anna Galvin is torn between the worlds which causes much angst in her attempt to stay relevant as she ages. Punctuated by a hilarious, scenery chewing performance by Carmen Aguirre as Cassandra the housekeeper and Nina, the classics fan, played by Katey Hoffman the whole company fits perfectly into their rolls.