Open Space’s welcome reminder of Russian culture

Never a group to shy away from a challenge, Open Space Theatre have taken on three of Anton Chekhov’s rarely performed single act plays, with The Bear and The Proposal taking the lion’s share of stage time. Sandwiched between them was The Evils of Tobacco, a fifteen minute monologue delivered with understated reserve by John Levantis, providing a welcome sorbet between the knockabout fun of the other plays.

Intriguingly, director David Green chose to use the same cast for  both. With Bob Good providing able support, Emma Martin and Ben Willmott took the roles of quarrelsome couples in both The Bear and The Proposal, which only highlighted the parallel themes of pointless acrimony and self-delusion. Willmott went full on Brian Blessed in the Bear, while the twitching, stuttering Lomov demonstrated his wide comedic range. Emma Martin was more than a match for him, her vapidly aloof Popova contrasting wonderfully with her foot stomping Natalya. Martin was the only cast member to reprise her role, having played Natalya in the company’s previous presentation of The Proposal, nearly ten years ago, and it was fascinating to see how she has developed as a comic actor. On the previous occasion her performance was assured, but measured, while this time she seemed to having a fine old time vamping it up.

For the most part, both plays are silly confections and could be enjoyed at such, but I can’t think I was the only one occasionally lost in sober reflection that these frothy, yet acerbic, comedies showed a side to Russian culture that can so easily be forgotten in these troubling times.