8 / 10
Gorky’s script has been given an idiosyncratic and often ribald updating by siblings Nina Raine and Moses Raine that will be divisive but which I found hugely entertaining. A play about inaction brings its own problems, however: as domestic spats and doomed flirtations play out, you wait in vain for something significant to happen. Perhaps it’s best to approach Summerfolk as a mood.
8 / 10
Gorky’s point is political. These lawyers, doctors and engineers are the children of the poor. They have clawed their way up to wealth and respectability, yet now they have achieved superiority they pay no heed to those still struggling. The doctor Maria Lvovna (Mitchell), is the sole voice of the liberal conscience, constantly needling the others about doing good. Her friend, Varvara (Sophie Rundle, wonderfully passive yet seething) sees the fatal ennui and waste but finds herself trapped within the misogynistic and limited world represented by her husband Bassov (Ready, charming, alarming and very funny).
It’s a hot, beautiful summer in 1905, and Russia’s elite retreat to the countryside to swim, sip champagne and start affairs. When they’re having this much fun, why care about anything else? But Varvara just can’t shake the feeling that their holiday idyll is built on borrowed time. As the party continues, how long can they ignore the storm on the horizon?
Splendid new adaptation of a play that can be seen as a respectful response to The Cherry Orchard
The National Theatre has released photos of Nina Raine and Moses Raine’s new version of Maxim Gorky’s Summerfolk, a razor-sharp portrait of class, privilege and denial.
The National Theatre has released rehearsal images for Nina Raine and Moses Raine’s new version of Maxim Gorky’s Summerfolk, a razor-sharp portrait of class, privilege and denial. Check out the photos here!
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