Ivanov

Ah, Chris Pine! The divine Chris Pine. Making his London stage debut. Don’t be put off by the fact that this is indeed a Chekhov play, because director/writer Simon Stone is the master of dragging these texts into our contemporary zeitgeist. Except a thrilling, fast-paced, keenly observed production.

It’s a comic drama which centers on Nikolai; who has forgotten how to be happy. Was he ever? Is he just burnout? He’s married to the perfect woman, he’s had a successful career: he should be heading into mid-life feeling confident and settled. Sure there’s some debts piling up, and his wife has been laid low with unexplained illnesses recently but they’ve jumped bigger hurdles before. What exactly is gnawing at him? Why does the world feel like it’s falling apart? Maybe he just needs to shake it off. There’s a party at the Lebedevs tonight!

Something needs to change, they all know it. Except when change comes it’s in the absurd, undignified form life often presents it to us in: an affair. Can Nikolai save his marriage, his will to live, and his career all at once? Or was it always destined to go tits up?