Cate Blanchett as Anna Petrovna and Richard Roxburgh as Mikhail Platonov (Photo by Joan Marcus)
Performance Date: 19 February 2017
Venue: Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York
Performance Run: Opened 08 January 2017, closed 19 March 2017
Presenting a heavy going Anton Chekhov play to a New York audience was always going to be a risk and it’s one that almost paid off. Almost. Even the pull of twice Oscar winning actress Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine and The Aviator) couldn’t save this production from itself.
Chekhov wrote the play in 1878 aged twenty and it is considered to be one of his most obscure and perplexing works, so much so, that the play remained unfinished and unnamed. Playwright Michael Frayn eventually grappled with Platonov, as it was eventually named, adapting it for the stage in 1984, where it debuted at the National Theatre starring Sir Ian McKellen under the title Wild Honey.
In 2015 it was the turn of Australian playwright and former Sydney Theatre Company artistic director Andrew Upton (Blanchett’s husband) to try his hand at adapting Platonov. Reimagined under the title The Present the play began previews in New York on December 17, 2016. Upton brings and all-Australian cast to Broadway for the first time with an overhauled script and modernised concept.
Upton has sliced, shredded and scrubbed so much of the original text that at times it is a struggle to make sense of the messy plot. As such, any attempt to distil such a complicated an chequered piece to the mainstream was always going to be a difficult challenge, and it’s clear that it’s one which Upton isn’t quite up to scratch for.
At three hours and four acts long, The Present is an endurance event. Blanchett dazzles as Anna Petrovna, a widow with a dwindling fortune and an estate she can’t afford to maintain. Dissatisfied with her past, bored with her present and uncertain of her future, The Present revolves around Anna’s 40th birthday party, which is attended by strange mix of old friends.
The eclectic group brings strength in depth to the production, Anna’s stepson, the pathetic Sergei (Chris Ryan) his wife Sophia, a humanitarian physician (Jacqueline McKenzie), self-assured doctor Nikolai (Toby Schmitz) and Nikolai’s unfulfilled girlfriend Maria (Anna Bamford). However, it is Mikhail Platonov (Richard Roxburgh and Blanchett’s leading man), who is married to Nikolai’s submissive sister, Sasha (Susan Prior) that catches the eye.
As the first act progresses, the intertwining lives of the characters emerge and the conduit is the disillusioned school teacher Mikhail. A philandering, conceited, self-absorbed womaniser, he hails Anna as ‘the one that got away’ and unashamedly peruses her. Although Anna returns the affection she does not act on it instead they dance round each other in a will-they-won’t-they battle of wills.
Despite his declarations, Mikhail continues to actively chase pretty much every other female character in the play. He re-seduces Sophia, a former lover and it is not long before Maria also succumbs to his charms. Mikhail is like catnip to these women which is astonishing given he is dishevelled at best, miserable, self-absorbed and looks like he needs a good wash.
The first act is arduous and long, thankfully a dinner party scene in Act 2 goes some way to saving the play, it’s hectic and heightens as the vodka flows and tempers flare as the characters discuss what might have been – the Act literally ends with a bang, taking us into the intermission.
Unfortunately this as good as it gets for The Present. Acts 3 and 4 are long and dull, not least helped by an over enthusiastic smoke machine being pumped into the auditorium to help depict the dramatic fallout of Act 2.
Blanchett and Roxburgh undoubtedly carry the play; their chemistry is palpable and believable. They have performed opposite each other for over twenty years and have a deep affinity with Chekov. They played Nina and Trigorin in the 1997 production of The Seagull (dead child, wrecked life). In 2010 they reunited as Yelena and Vanya for Uncle Vanya which played to American audiences in 2011. There are moments in the third act where they are simply mesmerising, Blanchett in particular showcasing her astonishing talent as an actress. If only Mikhail wasn’t such an unlikable character – you would be rooting for them to finally get together.
Blanchett delivers, as ever, an acting master class, playing Anna with a sensuality that drips from her like honey. A summerhouse scene in Act 2 where Anna rips off her bra and dirty dances on the table is uncomfortable to watch, yet incredibly beguiling at the same time. It is obvious that the party is going to end in tears. Although at times torturous to sit through, with repetitive dialogue that forces concentration, there is an overwhelming need to see it through and discover the miserable fate that is undoubtedly going to befall the characters.
It is safe to say the Broadway debuts of the lead actors is a triumph; it is just a shame that Blanchett and Roxburgh are let down by such weak material.
