6 / 10
This new version, reworked by siblings Nina and Moses Raine, deploys pleasingly rough-around-the-edges modern language to convey information about the characters’ various class backgrounds and differing degrees of emotional disaffection. Every glib comment is countered by a grandiloquent philosophical pronouncement, every elegant turn of phrase undercut by a crude, sweary comment.
6 / 10
The production is frozen in time, with gorgeous, era-inspired costumes by Peter McKintosh; its contemporary relevance is already plain to see. But the Raine team update the language into modern speech, creating a strange dissonance. Under Robert Hastie’s direction, cast members drift in and out as if on a circuit, in scenes of small talk and grander theorising. There are so many of them that, at times, it becomes difficult to keep track. Still, the ensemble is impeccably cast.
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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