Uncle Vanya (Act 2), Week 2: "Conflict and Desire" - The Rehearsal Room - The Working Actor's Journey

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
>> Libby (00:00):
Okay. Hi everybody. How are you
doing? You ready for a gloomy night
in Russia?
It's a gloomy night ahead of ah,
us. Yeah. did everybody have a
good week since we were together?
You know, it's hard to ask that question or even get an

(00:20):
answer for that these days
because you're either stuck inside or you're
wearing a mask somewhere or, you know,
getting through the week is a lot different than it was
two years ago, I think. Don't you think?
Okay, I, can see nobody wants to chit chat
with me, so let's get started working.

>> Sarah (00:41):
Oh, no, we all want to chitchat with you, Libby.

>> Libby (00:44):
Okay.

>> Sarah (00:45):
We're all shy.

>> Libby (00:46):
Okay, let me tell you how I want to
proceed. Actually for the next couple of
sessions, we only have three more, but I
consider this. When Nathan told me how
this works, I was just
knocked out by the generosity
of it, of having two hours,

(01:07):
four times to do one
scene. I've never had that,
that amount of time to examine something.
And it just feels, like such a
luxury. And
it feels to me like it's so
possible for us all to get a
real, get our hands

(01:28):
around a, ah, way of
working this material. Because the
material is deceivingly simple, as
you probably already noticed. and it has
a deep underneath.
And we're going to use the next few
sessions to find out what's underneath. I

(01:49):
want to say in advance that, yes,
I know this play probably much better than you
do. Yes, I will admit, but every
actor brings total new truth
to me and I know it, but I
don't know it. So when I ask you a question,
it'll be sincere. I'm going to want

(02:09):
what's going through you and what's your
imagination and your
take on, on anything.
So here's how I'd like to proceed.
I definitely want us to read
the scene first, which we'll do in a couple
minutes. And then at the end of the

(02:29):
session, the last half hour or so, we'll
read it again. And as
soon as we read it the first time, we'll go
into examining it,
literally, period. By comma, by
word, by thought. And it's going to
make you crazy. I'm just telling you because I
ask a lot of questions.

(02:52):
But I need us to get a
grip on what's really going on
with these people. And we'll
pretend that we're going to do that.
We're going to rehearse this play for a
year and then we're going to do the whole play somewhere.
Wouldn't that be nice? To do the whole play? I think

(03:12):
so. So I
want to give you the method in advance so
that you're, you have, some idea
of how. How we're heading and why we're heading the way we're
doing it. We're really examining a
process to
get underneath this material. Does
that sound okay to you guys?

(03:36):
Okay, so let's
read the scene. read it
aloud. and Julie, will you
do, not just Marina, but you'll also
do waffles for me and for
us in the. Will you read
Waffles? Yes.
Good. Okay. Yes.

(04:00):
I wanted to just say in advance,
you've got the role. You're
not auditioning for me or
for Alison. You've got the roles,
so read it. Just to find out what it's
about. Don't try
to make yourself
heard as an actor,

(04:22):
if that makes any sense. let's make some sense
out of the scene and find out what it's
about, rather than trying
to show how well cast you are. Okay.
All right, let's take a look at it. I work from the
book. I don't know how to do these things on computer.
Put them side by side with you. So I work

(04:43):
from the book, but I think we're on the same
page, figuratively
and literally.
And I also need, Allison,
are you there?

>> Alison (04:58):
Yes, I am. Okay, I'm assembling
the standing desk.

>> Libby (05:02):
Yeah, okay, listen, I need
you, if you would, to read the stage
directions.

>> Alison (05:09):
Yeah, absolutely.

>> Libby (05:10):
Would you do that? Because they're very important and I'll explain
all about that when we start into the scene. Yeah, for
sure. Okay.
That's you, Alison,
the dining room.

>> Alison (05:27):
And Sera, Bakov's home. Night
in the garden. The watchman can be heard
tapping. Serebyakov sits in an
armchair before an open window and dozes. And
Yelena Andreevna sits beside him and also
dozes.

>> Alberto (05:43):
Who's there? Sonia, is that
you?

>> Sarah (05:48):
Oh, I could barely hear you. Alberto.

>> Alberto (05:50):
One second.

>> Sarah (05:51):
Let me try to put on the headphones.

>> Libby (05:53):
Yeah, I was just
putting my volume up too. Okay,
let's start again.

>> Alberto (06:01):
How about this? Is that better?
Can you.

>> Libby (06:05):
That's better.

>> Alberto (06:06):
Is this better?

>> Libby (06:08):
Oh, it's a little.

>> Alison (06:10):
Do you want me to start again at the top?

>> Libby (06:13):
No, no, we'll start with,
Serov.
Is it Serov?

>> Alison (06:23):
It's the hardest name in Chekhov. It's
Serebyakov.

>> Libby (06:27):
Oh, the accent on the last syllable.

>> Alison (06:30):
On the last syllable. So it's like a. Yeah,
it's the toughest one, I think, in Chekhov.

>> Libby (06:36):
okay.

>> Alberto (06:37):
Well, does anybody actually say my
name in the play?

>> Libby (06:42):
No, they don't. But it's nice for us to.
Don't you want your name to be known?

>> Alberto (06:49):
Say it three times.
His name. Sonia,
is that you?

>> Libby (07:02):
I'm,

>> Speaker E (07:02):
Here.

>> Alberto (07:04):
You? Janotchka.
The pain is unbearable.

>> Sarah (07:10):
Here. Your blanket fell. He wrapped up his
legs. I'll shut the window.

>> Alberto (07:16):
No, I'm suffocating.
I was just starting off, and I dreamt that my
left leg was attached to someone else.
Yes, I woke up in such
excruciating pain. No,
this is not gout.

(07:37):
Probably rheumatism. What time
is it?

>> Sarah (07:42):
20 minutes after 12.

>> Alberto (07:47):
In the morning. Go look for Batyushkov
in the library. I'm sure we have him.

>> Libby (07:52):
What?

>> Alberto (07:53):
Look for Batyushkov in the morning.
I seem to recall we have him. Why can't
I breathe?

>> Sarah (08:01):
You're tired. This is the second night you, haven't
slept.

>> Alberto (08:04):
They say Turgenya have developed angina
pectoris from gout. I'm afraid I'm getting
it too. Damned
disgusting. Old. H.
The devil take it. Now that I'm
old, I can't stand, looking at
myself. And I'm sure all of you

(08:25):
must be repulsed by me too.

>> Sarah (08:28):
You make it sound as if it's our fault you got old.

>> Alberto (08:31):
But I'm most disgusting to
you.

>> Alison (08:35):
Then Andreyevna walks away and sits at some
distance.

>> Alberto (08:39):
Of course, you're right. I'm not stupid. I
understand. You're young,
healthy,
beautiful. You want to
live. And I'm an old
man, almost a corpse.

>> Libby (08:56):
True.

>> Alberto (08:58):
I understand all too well. And of
course it's a terrible crime I have lived
this long. But, wait a little. Soon you'll
be free of me. I won't last much
longer.

>> Sarah (09:10):
I'm exhausted. For God's sake, be quiet.

>> Alberto (09:13):
Yes, everyone is exhausted.
All because of me. They're
bored. They're wasting their time. They're
wasting their youth. I'm the
only one who's happy. I'm the only
one having a good time. Well, yes,
of course.

>> Libby (09:32):
Quiet.

>> Sarah (09:33):
You have worn me out.

>> Alberto (09:35):
Yes, I have worn everyone out. of,
Course.

>> Julie (09:39):
This is unbearable.

>> Sarah (09:40):
Tell me what you want from me.

>> Alberto (09:43):
Nothing.

>> Sarah (09:46):
Well, then be quiet, I
beg you.

>> Alberto (09:51):
It's so strange. Ivan
Petrovich. Yes? Are we
stopping?

>> Libby (09:57):
No.

>> Alberto (09:58):
It's so strange. Ivan Petrovich
talks his head off. And that old idiot Maya.
Vasilyevna. And it's just fine.
Everyone listens but,
When I say one word. When I say one
word, everyone suddenly feels
desolate. Even my voice is

(10:19):
offensive. Well,
let's assume I'm offensive. I'm an
egoist. I'm a despot.
Don't I have the right to be an egoist in my
old age? Think about
it. Haven't I earned it?
I ask you, don't I have the right to be.

(10:39):
To a, Comfortable old age? Surrounded
by. By my admirers?

>> Sarah (10:44):
No one is taking away your right.

>> Alison (10:47):
The window bangs from the wind.

>> Sarah (10:50):
It's very windy. I'll close the window.

>> Alison (10:53):
Closes it.

>> Sarah (10:55):
It'll rain soon. No one's
denying your rights.

>> Alison (11:01):
The watchman taps. The watchman in the garden taps
and sings a song.

>> Alberto (11:06):
All one's life to be dedicated to
scholarship. To become accustomed to
one's study, to the classroom,
to respective colleagues. And
suddenly, for no apparent reason, to find oneself
buried in this tomb. Every
day to deal with stupid people,

(11:27):
to listen to insignificant
chatter. I want to
live. I love success.
I love fame. I, love action.
But here I'm in
exile. Every minute I'm
longing for the past, Watching

(11:47):
the success of others, fearing death.
I cannot. I don't have the
strength. And no one can forgive me
for being old.

>> Sarah (12:01):
Wait a little. Have patience.
In five or six years, I'll be old too.

>> Alison (12:07):
Sonia and Papa.

>> Speaker E (12:10):
you sent for Dr. Astruff, but when he came, you refused
to see him.

>> Libby (12:14):
That's so rude.

>> Speaker E (12:16):
You bothered this man.

>> Alberto (12:18):
Why do I need Astro? He
understands about, He understands as much about
medicine I do astronomy.

>> Speaker E (12:27):
Well, we cannot send for the entire
medical faculty just for your
gouts.

>> Alberto (12:34):
I won't talk to that idiot.

>> Speaker E (12:40):
As you wish.

>> Alison (12:42):
She says all the same to me.

>> Alberto (12:44):
What time is it?

>> Sarah (12:45):
Almost one.

>> Alberto (12:47):
It's stifling. Sonia, give
me the drops from the table.

>> Libby (12:53):
Yes, of course.

>> Alison (12:55):
Give some of the drops, not
these.

>> Alberto (12:59):
I can't ask for anything.

>> Libby (13:02):
Oh, please.

>> Speaker E (13:03):
Stop acting like a baby. It
may be fine for others, but spare me, please. I don't
like it. I don't have time. I need to get up early tomorrow. I
have the. The hay to mow.

>> Alison (13:14):
Intervoy Nitsky in a dressing gown and with a
candle.

>> Howard (13:18):
The storm's coming.

>> Alison (13:20):
Lightning.

>> Howard (13:21):
Here we go. Helene and Sonja, go to sleep. I
came to relieve you.

>> Alberto (13:25):
No, no, no. Don't leave
me with him. No. You'll talk my hand
off.

>> Howard (13:32):
But they've got to get some rest. They didn't sleep at all last
night.

>> Alberto (13:36):
Let them go to sleep. But you go too.
Thank you. I implore
you in the name of a former
friendship. Go. We'll talk
later.

>> Howard (13:47):
Our, former friendship.

>> Libby (13:49):
Former. Be quiet, Uncle
Ythonia, my
dear, don't.

>> Alberto (13:57):
Leave me with him. He'll talk my head off.

>> Howard (14:00):
Can you believe how ludicrous this is?

>> Alison (14:02):
Marina enters with a candle.

>> Speaker E (14:05):
You ought to be in bed, Nanya.
It's very late.

>> Julie (14:09):
The samovar is still boiling. You can't exactly expect
me to go to bed.

>> Alberto (14:14):
Is sleeping. Everybody is
exhausted. I alone am in
a state of bliss.

>> Alison (14:22):
She goes over to Serabyakov.

>> Julie (14:24):
What is it, my dear? Are you in pain?
My legs ache too. They ache so.
Oh, you've been in pain such a long time.
Vera Petrovna, Sonietzka's mother, may she rest
in peace, never slept either. She nearly killed herself
taking care of you. she loved
you very much. Oh, yes.

(14:46):
Old people are like children. They want
someone to feel sorry for them. But no
one feels sorry for the old.

>> Alison (14:55):
This is her mama's shoulder.

>> Julie (14:57):
Let's go to bed, my dear. Let's go, my
little boy. I'll make you some lime leaf
tea. I'll warm your legs. I'll pray
to God for you.

>> Alberto (15:09):
Let's go, Marina.

>> Julie (15:11):
My legs ache too. They ache so.

>> Alison (15:14):
He leads him together with Sonia.

>> Julie (15:16):
Avera Petrovna nearly killed herself. Always
crying. You, Sonichka, were still little then.

>> Libby (15:22):
Come,

>> Julie (15:22):
Come, my dear
Serbyakov.

>> Alison (15:25):
Sonia and Marina exit.

>> Sarah (15:29):
I'm, completely exhausted with him.
I can barely stand on my feet.

>> Howard (15:35):
You're exhausted with him and I with
myself. This is the third night I haven't
slept.

>> Sarah (15:42):
Something is wrong with this
house. Your mother hates everything
except for her own pamphlets. And the professor? The professor is
irritated. He doesn't trust me. He's afraid of
you. Sonia is angry with her
father, angry with me and hasn't talked to
me for two weeks. You hate my
husband and openly hold your own mother in contempt.

(16:04):
And I am short tempered. And at least 20 times today
I started to cry.
There is something very wrong with this house.

>> Howard (16:13):
Shall we cut the philosophy, please?

>> Sarah (16:15):
You, Ivan Petrovich, are educated,
intelligent, and you must see the world as not being destroyed
by thieves and fires and wars, but rather by
hatred, hostility. From all these petty
squabbles. You shouldn't add,
noisy, complaining around us. You should be
helping to find peace in your
own family.

>> Howard (16:37):
Help me find peace in myself, my
darling.

>> Alison (16:40):
He presses her hand to himself.

>> Libby (16:42):
Stop.

>> Alison (16:43):
Takes her hand away.

>> Sarah (16:45):
Go away.

>> Howard (16:46):
Soon it'll stop raining and everything in nature will
be refreshed and alive. I alone
will not be refreshed by the storm. Day and
night I'm strangled by the idea that
my life is irrevocably lost. That I'm
dead. That I wasted my life, that I
spent my life on trifles. Here.
Take my life, take my love.

(17:08):
What good are they to me? What have I done with them?
My feelings are dying away in vain. Like
sunbeams falling into a dark pit. I'm
dying.

>> Sarah (17:19):
When you talk to me about your love, I just go
numb and don't know what to
say. Forgive me. I have
nothing to say to you.

>> Alison (17:30):
Tries to go good night. Locking
her way.

>> Howard (17:34):
If you only knew how I suffer from the thought that next to me
in this very house, another life is dying.
Yours. What are you waiting for? What
damned righteous morality stops you?

>> Sarah (17:45):
Don't you see, Ivan Petrovich?

>> Julie (17:47):
You're drunk.

>> Howard (17:51):
Possibly.
Possibly.

>> Sarah (17:56):
Where's the doctor?

>> Howard (17:59):
He's here, spending the
night.
Possibly.
Possibly. Everything is possible.

>> Sarah (18:12):
Why are, you drinking so much?

>> Howard (18:15):
Because it makes me feel alive. Don't
try to stop me, Ellen.

>> Sarah (18:20):
You never used to drink so much. And you never talked so
much. Go to
sleep. I'm bored to death
of you.

>> Howard (18:29):
My darling, beautiful,
marvelous.

>> Sarah (18:32):
Leave me alone.
This is just disgusting.

>> Alison (18:39):
She exits.

>> Howard (18:42):
She's gone.
I first met you 10 years ago at My Darling
Sisters, remember?
You were 17 and I was
37. Why didn't I fall in
love with you and propose to then?

(19:03):
It would have been so
easy. And today you would be
my wife.
Tonight both of us would be
awakened by the storm. You would be afraid of
the thunder. And I would take you in my
arms and whisper. Don't be afraid,
little darling. I'm here.

(19:26):
Marvelous thoughts.
Wonderful. I'm laughing,
but my God, I'm so mixed up.
Why am I old?
Why doesn't she understand me?
The way she talks. Her stupid morality.

(19:47):
Silly prattling about making peace in the world I hate
so much.
I've been deceived. I
worshiped that professor. That
pathetic, gout ridden idiot. I worked for him
like a slave. Sonia and I squeezed every

(20:09):
drop out of this estate. We were like kulaks haggling
over vegetable oil peas, Starving ourselves with
crumbs just so we could save a few copecks to send to
him. I was so proud of him. He and his
glorious scholarship. I lived for him. I breathed for
him. Every word he wrote or uttered seemed
like genius to me.

(20:30):
And now he's retired and it has
become perfectly clear that the sum total of his
life adds up to nothing. Not
one word. Of his. Not a single
scholarly word matters to anyone.
A soap bubble. And I've been swindled.
I see that now. Stupidly swindled.

>> Alison (20:49):
Enter Astrov in a frock coat, without a waistcoat
and without a tie. He's tipsy. Behind him is
Tiliagin with a guitar.

>> Corey (20:57):
Play.

>> Julie (20:58):
Everyone is sleeping, sir.

>> Alison (21:00):
Play till ygin
strums.

>> Corey (21:05):
Are you alone here?

>> Alberto (21:07):
No.

>> Corey (21:08):
Ladies, go to the peasant
house. Go to the fire. There
is no place for the master to
expire.
The storm woke me. It's a
big storm. What time is
it?

>> Howard (21:25):
No. Who knows?

>> Corey (21:27):
I thought I heard Yelena Andreyevna's voice.

>> Howard (21:31):
She was just here.

>> Corey (21:34):
What a gorgeous woman.

>> Alison (21:36):
Seeing the bottles on the table.

>> Corey (21:39):
Medicines,
drugs. There's nothing
missing. Kharkov,
Moscow, Tulskaya. Every
city is plagued with his gout.
Is he really sick or is he faking it?

>> Howard (21:55):
Sick.

>> Corey (21:57):
Why are you so sad today? Pity for the
professor.

>> Alberto (22:01):
Quit it.

>> Corey (22:03):
Or maybe you're in love with the
professor's wife?

>> Howard (22:08):
She's my friend.

>> Corey (22:10):
Already.

>> Howard (22:11):
What does that mean, already?

>> Corey (22:14):
A woman can only be friends with a
man. In this order.
First an acquaintance,
then a lover, and then finally a
friend.

>> Howard (22:26):
Vulgar.

>> Corey (22:27):
Oh,
yes, it's true. I'm becoming vulgar.
I'm drunk. Usually I get
drunk like this once a month. And when I'm drunk, I get
completely vulgar and fearless.
Everything seems so easy to me. I
take on the most difficult operations and do them
brilliantly. I make daring plans for the

(22:50):
future. And when I'm drunk, I no longer seem like a
freak. And I actually believe I'm bringing some
enormous benefit to humanity.
Enormous. And when I'm drunk, I see how
valuable my own personal universe is.
And the rest of you piddling creatures seem like
insects,

(23:10):
microbes, waffles.

>> Libby (23:13):
Play, dear one.

>> Julie (23:15):
I would love to play for you with all my soul. But understand,
everyone is sleeping.

>> Libby (23:20):
Play.

>> Alison (23:22):
Deliegin. Quietly Strums.

>> Corey (23:25):
You need a drink. Oh, I see there's some
cognac left. In the morning we'll go to my
place. Raichar.
I have a medical assistant who never says right, but.
Raichar.
Idiot. Right. Char.

>> Alison (23:41):
Seeing Sonja enter.

>> Alberto (23:43):
Pardon?

>> Corey (23:43):
me, I forgot my tie.

>> Alison (23:44):
Quickly he exits. Tillie again follows.

>> Speaker E (23:53):
And you, Uncle
Vanya, you got drunk again with the
doctor?
A couple of juveniles hanging around together.
Well, he's always been like that. But what in
heaven's name is wrong with you? At your
age, you should know better.

>> Howard (24:09):
Age has nothing to do with it. When
you don't have a life, you live on Soap
bubbles. It's better than nothing.

>> Speaker E (24:18):
Our hay needs to be cut. It rains every day. Everything is
rotting and all you talk about is soap bubbles.
You're completely neglecting the farm.
I have to work alone. I'm
strained to the breaking point.
Uncle, you have tears in
your eyes.

>> Howard (24:39):
Tears? It's
nothing. Nonsense. The
way you looked
at me just now. Just like your
mother. How sweet.

>> Alison (24:52):
Greedily he kisses her grump in the face.

>> Howard (24:55):
My sister. My sweet dear sister.
Where is she now? If only she
knew. If only she knew.

>> Libby (25:04):
Knew what? Uncle,

>> Howard (25:07):
What? It's
so hard.
Nothing. Later.
Nothing. I'm going.

>> Alison (25:19):
He exits.

>> Libby (25:22):
Good. Gosh. It's
a great, great piece of the play, isn't it?
Just beautiful. Thank you. Well,
read. Where, where, where's
Alberto?
Does everybody see Alberto except me?
Nobody does.

>> Alberto (25:41):
No, no.

>> Julie (25:46):
Nathan still logged in? Yes.

>> Sarah (25:49):
His camera turned off. But he is here.

>> Alberto (25:52):
Oh.

>> Libby (25:53):
But, Oh, there he is.

>> Alberto (25:54):
Yeah.

>> Libby (25:55):
We need to see you.
Okay, here I am.

>> Alberto (26:00):
Right.

>> Libby (26:03):
Okay. All right.
Being about ready to start into it
in minute detail.
what's your general impression about the scene?
Any overall
feelings about. It's more than one scene, of course.
It's a couple of scenes in

(26:25):
there. But any, Any thoughts? Anybody
have any feelings about.

>> Speaker E (26:33):
Just seems to be filled with just
frustrated longing. You know what I mean?
Like everybody. Like frustrated
desperation of not getting what
you want, not even knowing what they want.
But just a general sense of
just frustration. Like at the.

(26:53):
The apex of frustration.

>> Libby (26:56):
Yeah. Edginess,
dissatisfaction.

>> Speaker E (27:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everybody seems edgy.

>> Libby (27:03):
Yes.

>> Alberto (27:05):
And the sense of,
A bit. Everybody seems to have
insomnia.
it's Everybody's tired, but. And
irritable and it's late at night
and there's a storm brewing. So
I can. It feels like,

(27:26):
the atmosphere is lowering
and is pressing on
all of us or something.

>> Libby (27:34):
Yes, yes. Does feel that
way. Yeah.

>> Sarah (27:38):
Between the exhaustion and the alcohol, everybody seems to
be in some sort of altered state.

>> Libby (27:44):
I'm glad you brought up the alcohol too. It seems to be
a. A regular part of the Russian
diet. Right. Yeah. A little out.
Certainly. Vanya is drunk again.
Any other
thoughts about the overall quality of.

(28:05):
Of the world that it's in?

>> Corey (28:07):
Yeah.

>> Julie (28:08):
Oh, sorry.

>> Corey (28:09):
No, go. Go ahead, Julie.

>> Julie (28:10):
Well, I was just gonna say that it feels that people want to escape,
but there's no escape.

>> Libby (28:16):
Yeah.

>> Julie (28:19):
They're just stuck and they want to leave.

>> Libby (28:21):
This duck is a
great word too.

>> Speaker E (28:26):
And it's. It's even and. And jumping
on to that. Julie. It's like they're stuck
not just in the space
and not just in the environment, but stuck in
their minds in a way. You
know, stuck in their. In their thoughts
and in their. It keeps thinking just

(28:47):
desperation that it doesn't seem like there can even
be any relief for the desperation. It's just
like they're languishing in that.

>> Sarah (28:57):
There'S no politeness keeping folks
from truth telling here. everybody is
completely open.

>> Speaker E (29:08):
But do you think that.

>> Libby (29:10):
Well, of course it's two or three in the morning,
so being right isn't too surprising.
Right.

>> Speaker E (29:16):
So they're drunk, they're tired, nobody slept,
they're tipsy, they're exhausted.
yeah, they're in pain.

>> Libby (29:29):
Just a few things.

>> Alberto (29:31):
And their thoughts seem to be
circling around, coming to the
same spot. Right.

>> Libby (29:39):
Like what?

>> Alberto (29:39):
Yeah.

>> Libby (29:40):
Ah.

>> Alberto (29:42):
There'S an ide fix or something
that each one has. I'm going to die.
I'm too old. he's in love with her.
She's so bored.
Sonia is exasperated that
everybody's. I mean, here
she is, overworked, in
love and

(30:03):
frustrated. Yeah.

>> Libby (30:05):
Yeah.

>> Corey (30:06):
It's funny because it seems like everybody's talking about them
being so old, but there seems to be this sort of younger,
energy, like a childlike energy, where it's like, I need to
get this. This is my last chance to get it. And tonight's the
night that this is gonna happen.

>> Libby (30:21):
You, know, I'm the oldest one amongst us, and
I would say it's not just childlike.
Corey. I find
various times in my life saying, is this
what it is? Is this what it's about?
I think that follows you always,
and especially when you reach a midpoint in your

(30:42):
Life. I see 47.
I know 47 probably doesn't sound too
old, but it was getting on
to being old in Chekhov's time. As I told you,
he died at 40, 44. Of course, he was very
ill, but
still, 47, you should have found yourself

(31:03):
already, buddy. Kind of thing, you know,
what do you think about, the fact that a storm is
coming? What's your. What's your feeling about
that?

>> Corey (31:17):
It storms to be kind of romantic, but
that's good in a way.

>> Libby (31:22):
I think that's
true.

>> Alison (31:27):
For me.

>> Speaker E (31:28):
It feels.

>> Julie (31:29):
Go ahead, Deidre.

>> Speaker E (31:30):
No, no, no, you go ahead, Sarah.

>> Sarah (31:34):
I think the storm affects people in different
ways. There's individual responses to the storm. You
know, when you're an old guy with pain in your bones, a
storm ends up bringing on extra
pain. If you're Sonia you're thinking about the hay that needs
to be mowed. Your vanya, you're thinking about. This could be very
romantic. You know, there seems to be very different

(31:54):
individual responses to what it represents.

>> Libby (31:57):
That's great. That's absolutely wonderful.

>> Speaker E (32:00):
Yeah, there's. There's a sense that. That with
the. With. With the
storm comes urgency.
The barometric pressure is lowering, so it's
creating pressure, sort of. It's pressurizing
this already. You know, I mean,
I just get the sense of like, sort of a
sticky feeling, you know, so. So

(32:22):
it feeds into the irritability. It feeds
into the lack of being able to sleep, the
barometric pressure.

>> Libby (32:29):
So. So there's.

>> Speaker E (32:30):
So there's probably pressure in the head and this
feeling like, I gotta get out. I gotta just, you know, I
need some fresh, clean air. And
with the storm coming, it just sort of
encapsulates that feeling of being
trapped, you know, sort of being trapped
in this. In all of
the stuff, you

(32:52):
know, the sticky stuff that exists.

>> Libby (32:55):
That's great. Allison, talk about the
weather in Mellichovo, and
in the summertime.

>> Alison (33:02):
Oh, yeah. It's just a place of extremes.
I mean, it gets down. It doesn't
get. It's funny, I was looking at the. At the different
temperatures, and it doesn't get crazy,
crazy hot. But I think the humidity.

>> Libby (33:16):
Humidity, yeah.

>> Alison (33:18):
And the saturatedness of it is what's going
to add to that stickiness. It's like the American
south or, like, you know, or parts of the Mid
Atlantic or New England where you're like, you
wake up and you need to take a shower. And when you go to bed, you
also need to take a shower, and maybe one in the middle as
well.

>> Libby (33:36):
but, you know, air conditioning.

>> Alison (33:38):
Yeah, no air conditioning. You got windows open.
But then you open the windows, and then, like, it's
more damp coming in.
yeah. And it's a very fertile
place. And so everything is growing and
alive and
holding that wetness as well. You know what I
mean? So it's. There's a wildness to

(34:00):
it. and there's this sense that, like,
having spent a summer in Russia,
I was struck by the fact that nobody ever
mows their lawns. Or at least in the country they
don't. So there's this wildness
happening, you know, like, the hay gets
mown and stuff, but otherwise there's the sense that,
like, you know, you live the whole winter with things just

(34:22):
died back and all of that. And then once the
spring and summer come, everything just goes
crazy. M so there's a.
There's a wildness and a
fecundity to it.
like a. Yeah, like a
fertile.

>> Libby (34:40):
Yeah, like it's pulsing.

>> Alison (34:43):
Yeah, like it's pulsing.

>> Alberto (34:44):
Yeah. Yeah.

>> Alison (34:45):
It's like a pulsing vivacity to it.

>> Alberto (34:47):
That's.

>> Alison (34:48):
And. And it's got to be. So
when you witness it year after year. And yet
your own life doesn't change with the
seasons.

>> Alberto (34:59):
Yeah.

>> Alison (34:59):
I can only imagine what that does.

>> Libby (35:03):
Yeah. I spent my
youth in New York. I was born in New York.
And, there was no air conditioning when
I was a kid. And those
humid New York summers were death.
Absolutely horrible. And
I want to tell you, I did the

(35:23):
scene when I was, in an acting
class with Lloyd Richards. Do you know the name of
Lloyd Richards? The great Lloyd
Richards, who was not only one of the great directors
of the world, was a,
marvelous acting teacher. I was lucky enough
to take a class with him. And I was
doing the, Yelena Sonja scene.

(35:46):
I was playing Yelena. And,
just for scene work. And we
start. I. We're standing together, and I'm
entering to talk to, Sonia,
who is in a state over
Astro. And I
said, the storm is over. Or
whatever is that first line. And he stopped

(36:08):
me and he said, where's the storm?
I said, the storm is outside. You know, I
started. I was giving him realistic answers. He
asked me maybe 12 times where the
storm was until I finally
understood that the storm was inside of
me. And I didn't. And I didn't

(36:28):
get that until he
pushed me into a place where I
could find the storm inside of me. Me
was, It's something I'll
remember. I have remembered all of my
life. as a turning point for me in
understanding this work,
as well,

(36:50):
I wanted to say to you that I'm
asking for Alison to read the stage
directions. Because every stage direction. When
we're examining the work right
now, every stage,
direction, is Chekhovs.
And he'll say through
tears or tenderly

(37:13):
or. And it isn't that I'm looking,
or any director is looking for a result
because of what the, stage direction
is. It's to give you a
clue as to
what is going on.
what's going on inside the person and what's

(37:35):
going on in the environment, which is
tremendously important to him. Also
very important is sound.
And we'll talk about it in a second. But
you notice he notates the sound. The sound of the
watchman tapping. And what the.
What the watchman is doing is he's
tapping to say, all's well over here.

(37:58):
All's well over here. All's well over
here. Not that close together, of course,
but that adds to the musicality of
the scene. Chekhov is an extremely
musical, writer. And that's not
always thought about. It's very lyric.
And, he brings all of that
in. A director can choose not to

(38:21):
have that, but you just need to
understand what's part of the environment.
Does that make any sense?
Okay, let's start
again. and I'm going to stop you every
minute, so don't be mad at
me. Let's start with

(38:44):
Allison. With you.

>> Alison (38:45):
Great. And Libby, would you like me to read every single
one?

>> Libby (38:48):
No. no. what do you guys think?
What do you guys think, like, when he gives the
actor, a director?
I think actually, this time through, we should do
it so that we see
what Chekhov is after.
Yeah. Okay, so leave
space for Allison to do

(39:11):
that.

>> Alison (39:13):
Act two, the dining room and Sarah
Bryakov's home. Night in the
garden. The watchman can be heard tapping.

>> Libby (39:21):
Okay. In the dining
room. Any thoughts about that?

>> Alberto (39:31):
3:00. Why did we not go to bed?

>> Libby (39:34):
Yeah, great.

>> Alberto (39:37):
did I. Did I have a glass of wine or
two or three, you know?
But then why is my wife here
keeping me company?

>> Libby (39:49):
Yeah. yeah. Why.
Why didn't you go to bed? Let's start with that.

>> Alberto (39:58):
Okay.
The bedroom's hot.
the, This dining room seems
to be the largest room in the house. I'm
speculating.

>> Libby (40:19):
That's a very good choice.

>> Alberto (40:20):
Yeah. And, so even if
I have the master bedroom,
which I do, of course, it still is
smaller than this dining room.
If I am in pain with
rheumatism. Yes.

>> Libby (40:36):
Ah.

>> Alberto (40:37):
I keep my movements at a minimum.
After dinner is like, Oh, I've got a, I've
got an attack of, the misery. And
I rather not move now and
then. I doze off instead
after a fairly good dinner. Heavy
dinner. Also,

(41:03):
contrariness. I don't know. I'm just being. I don't want to
go to bed. I don't know.
The childlike. No, not yet. I don't
want to go to. I don't know.

>> Libby (41:14):
Yeah, yeah,
that's. That's probably there. but
there's probably good reason for him to feel like
he wants some attention.

>> Alberto (41:25):
Yes. Yes. I'm.
I'm not sure how aware he is of,
How all the, How A couple. How
the two men are circling his wife
with their tongues hanging out. I'm not sure.
He can't be that oblivious to it. But
he does. Yeah. Yes.

>> Libby (41:46):
Yeah. I think that's a good way to think
that he can't be completely oblivious
to the fact that she is.
It can't just be Vanya and Astrov. I mean, this is
an extraordinarily beautiful woman.

>> Alberto (42:00):
But there seems to be a certain complacency
to him, like, well, of course she's not
going to stray. She's my wife.

>> Libby (42:08):
Yes. Your wife.
Mine? Yes.

>> Alberto (42:14):
how could she possibly. Even though I say, you
know, I'm disgusting to her, but it's like. But
there's duty. And I don't know,
when I say those lines, one thing that
struck me afterwards was I was going,
the first time we met.

(42:35):
Such a contrast to now.
This what I'm feeling. I
think I haven't constructed anything
about our first meeting, but it feels to me like
there's this wonderful, maybe even
romanticized memory in the back
of my, head. And
here's my wife barely able to keep her gorge

(42:57):
down when she looks at me, you know?

>> Libby (43:00):
That must feel terrible.

>> Alberto (43:01):
So yeah, if I go to bed, then she'll be
forced to sleep, to lie down
beside me. And I know how she hates that.

>> Libby (43:10):
Oh, that's a very interesting idea,
Alberto.
Yeah.
Yeah.

>> Alberto (43:23):
Whoa.

>> Libby (43:24):
Is that, this is, this is all in the
dining room. Not in a bedroom where it
should be.
The house is kind of turned upside
down. Right.

>> Alberto (43:37):
And besides, I, do stay up
later. Marina, was complaining about,
my asking for whatever at
ah, odd hours. We eat
late.

>> Libby (43:48):
Eat very late and hard to digest. Especially
as you get older, when you eat
late. And as Marina
says right from the beginning in her first,
speeches with Astra, she says that the
samovar has been boiling all day. And you
know, they have to turn the

(44:08):
samovar on normally
early and turn it off at a certain time.
In other words, things are upside down in the house.
Right.

>> Alberto (44:18):
And mainly my
doing.

>> Libby (44:22):
Yes, I would say that's probably true. But let's
just take it slow now for just
recognizing that in the very first
words of the, of the stage direction, he's telling
us something's wrong because they're in the dining room
middle of the night.
Okay. And we know it's the middle

(44:43):
of the night because we hear the watchman
tapping. So he's created
for you, for us,
an atmosphere that you're in, you're not just in the
bedroom complaining. You're
in the public room of the dining
room where everybody is.

(45:03):
I don't know how big this house is.

>> Alberto (45:06):
I, seem to. There's a lot of rooms, it
seems. I complain about the
labyrinth.

>> Libby (45:13):
Yes. Yes. That's excellent.

>> Alberto (45:16):
So this is a country house, which
could be large, I suppose. Yeah.

>> Libby (45:22):
Yeah. I think
it's modeled after Melekhovo, don't you,
Allison?

>> Alison (45:28):
Yeah, yeah. It's where he was living when he
wrote this. And certainly his best understanding
of country life. And he was the
doctor. He was the country doctor
there.

>> Libby (45:40):
Yes, he was.

>> Alison (45:42):
Yeah. So several bedrooms.
Yeah. Good enough. a big enough family house that it,
can accommodate a family and some extended
family.

>> Libby (45:52):
And I would. I would probably think that
because of Alberto, your comments
about the rooms being, you know,
a labyrinth and hard to find your way around here.
I think it's telling us that it's
big. It's not an estate. It's not like.
It's not an aristocratic estate like
Cherry Orchard. It's a country

(46:15):
house. It's a dacha.

>> Alberto (46:17):
It's, a little more utilitarian. Right? Yeah.
There's no fancy furnishings.

>> Libby (46:23):
That's right.

>> Alberto (46:24):
Yeah.

>> Libby (46:25):
Right.

>> Alison (46:26):
Yeah. And there's a sense that probably over time, it's
maybe been added onto, leading to that
labyrinthian feel.

>> Libby (46:34):
that's a very good idea. I like
that.

>> Alberto (46:39):
So.

>> Libby (46:41):
I have a question.

>> Alberto (46:43):
Sorry. Go ahead, Deidre.

>> Speaker E (46:45):
I was just having a question about. Can you tell me the
watchman. Who is
the watchman? what is the function of the watchman?
He's in the garden, and the watchman can be heard tapping.
What is he tapping on?

>> Libby (46:59):
He's tapping with a stick on the
wood of the house. And each time he taps,
he's saying, it's safe here.
There are no animals coming. There's no
people coming to rob. It's. It's
just a technique. It's a. It's an alarm system.
That's what it is. And.

>> Speaker E (47:18):
Okay.

>> Alberto (47:20):
Basically going, 3:00 and all is
well.

>> Libby (47:23):
That's right. It's like that. That's exactly what it
is.

>> Alison (47:26):
And it's also alerting
anyone who would come.

>> Sarah (47:31):
Ah.

>> Alison (47:31):
That there's a watchman.

>> Alberto (47:33):
Yeah. Yeah, I see. So, okay.

>> Alison (47:37):
Stuff like that. so
it's not that they're that wealthy, but also,
at this time in Russia, there was
just enough poverty and
starvation happening in some areas that
it wouldn't be the craziest idea that somebody could
come and steal food. From property. Especially

(47:58):
if you were a working farm.

>> Libby (48:00):
And he's probably, like,
in several of the plays, a workman.
He's a workman for the estate. He probably helps with
the farm. Now, the word
estate, and that conjures up grand,
hundreds, thousands of acres. I don't think it's that, but it
is a working farm. And

(48:21):
I like what you said, Allison, that this gives,
Gives, people or any
predator the idea
not to come near.

>> Speaker E (48:33):
Got it.

>> Libby (48:34):
Got it.

>> Speaker E (48:35):
Okay.

>> Alberto (48:37):
Now, somehow,
I'm obsessing on the watchman tapping,
so this should
ordinarily be a comforting
sound. I, mean, yes, the security
guards are at work. but
if I've been asleep and I hear the tapping,
is it too much of a leap that this wakes me up?

(48:59):
It's the tapping that wakes me up. And it's been almost like
the end of fate.

>> Libby (49:04):
I think that's a perfectly good choice. And I think
were we on our feet and working
it, we would try that, I
like that idea, that it gets you out
of a snooze.

>> Alberto (49:18):
Okay.

>> Libby (49:21):
Okay.
All right. Allison
Serbiakov sits.

>> Alison (49:28):
Serebyakov sits in an armchair before an open
window and dozes. And Yelena Andreevna sits
beside him and also dozes, waking
up.

>> Alberto (49:40):
Sonia, is that you?

>> Libby (49:42):
Well, now, why would it be Sonia?

>> Alberto (49:45):
because she's always waiting on me. She's
the, The. The
person who is
always. She's the handmaiden. She's,
She's always helpful. She's,
On the other hand. Am I alarmed that
it could possibly be Sonia? I don't know

(50:05):
why Sonia? That's a good question. Now, we're
really. I didn't think about it, Libby, to be
honest.

>> Libby (50:12):
Well, that's why we're doing this.

>> Alberto (50:17):
I expect Sonia to be there.

>> Libby (50:19):
And anybody else have any ideas
about it?

>> Julie (50:24):
She's loyal. She's like a lap dog,
kind of like she's always there working
for him.

>> Sarah (50:30):
She's.

>> Julie (50:30):
I mean, her existence is kind of to serve him.

>> Libby (50:35):
Yes, but why did.

>> Speaker E (50:37):
Why doesn't he call his wife? I
mean, if he wakes up and he's
like, does he. Does he know where he is?
It's just strange. Does he know where he is? And
if he. You know,
if he. If he thinks he's in his bedroom, as
opposed to. Because he's like, you know, who's. Who's there?

>> Alberto (50:57):
The.

>> Speaker E (50:58):
Who's there? That wouldn't be a question that I
think you would ask in a dining room. You know what I
mean?

>> Libby (51:04):
Uh-huh.

>> Speaker E (51:04):
If you. You're waking up out of a. You know,
out of a doze, it feels like you're waking up out of a dream,
maybe, or waking up out of a. You
know. Yeah. I mean, I don't
have an answer. I'm just like. It's just interesting that he calls on
Sonia. Not, you know.

>> Alberto (51:21):
Yeah.
Sorry.

>> Howard (51:25):
it also. It's often felt to me like.
Because Vanya comes in and he
says Yelena and
Sonia have been watching all night for three nights.
That when he fell asleep, Sonia was there and that they
switched while he. He's been asleep so long that
the. That the nurse has rotated maybe

(51:45):
m.

>> Libby (51:47):
Yes, that's an extremely good point,
Howard. How many shifts have already
gone on since
dinner? I mean, we are talking middle of the night here.
So. Ah, he's.
And it's a question. Is he in his night clothes
or is he still in. You know,

(52:08):
these are good,
things to examine. It would make
a difference if you're in your night
clothes. Wouldn't
you feel more vulnerable if you're in a dining room in
your night clothes? I would. Which. I
wear my nightgown all the time. But that's another.

>> Julie (52:29):
I had a question about meal times, because in
the play it says that they're having, lunch
at 6 or 7 o'clock now.

>> Libby (52:37):
Yeah.

>> Julie (52:38):
Lunch still means the midday meal, right?

>> Libby (52:41):
Right. That's right. Everything is
topsy turvy, Julie. Yes.

>> Alberto (52:46):
Yeah.

>> Julie (52:47):
So then. So dinner would have been around maybe
around midnight?

>> Libby (52:51):
Well, then, yes. But it should
have been seven, Right?
That's a long way away. Seven to midnight.
Yeah.
Okay, let's. Let's,
Okay, let's, take that again. Alberto.

(53:14):
The. Who's there?

>> Alberto (53:18):
you?

>> Sarah (53:22):
I'm here.

>> Alberto (53:24):
You Janotchka? Is that a
surprise?

>> Libby (53:28):
Okay, let me stop you there. What do you think about the
Lenochka?

>> Alberto (53:32):
Well, it's very. It's
a pet name. It's, a very
affectionate nickname.
Yes. So this has come out in
spite of me. It's almost like, you
know, or, in my half dreamy
state.

(53:53):
yeah, it. It just feels so affectionate. Here.
Leonochka.

>> Libby (53:57):
That's a tremendously important
idea, Alberto.
Most of the time he's played just that there's
nothing between them.

>> Alberto (54:08):
So there's.

>> Libby (54:09):
The first time he uses her name in the
play, he calls her Lenochka. I don't
remember whether he talks to her in the first act. I don't
think he does.

>> Alberto (54:19):
Yeah, no,
he goes in she comes later. So I don't
think so. So. Or does he. Does he come back in the
first. No, I think he.

>> Libby (54:29):
No, he doesn't come back. He goes to the study
and leaves them. I also
think it's interesting
that he's not in his
study room that they use
as his study. here.
he's in the dining room. I kind

(54:49):
of can't get over that really,
that they are set up in the dining room.
Probably,
probably in night clothes. And the reason
that I'm harping on that is
you're vulnerable, when
you're, when you're not in a vest

(55:11):
and a suit and,
you know, completely.

>> Alberto (55:16):
So
a certain comfort that I'm here.

>> Libby (55:22):
Yes.

>> Alberto (55:25):
You know.

>> Libby (55:26):
Yes, yes.

>> Alberto (55:28):
I, don't know. It, I, I guess I'm flashing on
Astro going, oh, I'm not dressed because he doesn't have his vest
on.

>> Libby (55:34):
Yes, yes, yes.

>> Alberto (55:36):
So I don't know how comfortable I am with, you know,
being in question.

>> Libby (55:41):
Yeah, yeah.

>> Alberto (55:44):
is it because I've taken over the dining room.
Ah. And has made it my dining room
slash study?

>> Libby (55:52):
Could be. Well, no, you have a study because you're going to send
her to the library. The
house study slash library.
so there is another place.

>> Sarah (56:05):
It's, it's interesting because later when Marina comes
in, she says, let's go to bed. Let's take you to
bed. Which does seem to me indicate that this
is a little bit more unusual for him to have.
Or at least it's not the,
the end game that he's stayed in the dining
room. It, because she takes him to

(56:25):
bed. It seems to me this is more of a post
dinner, he fell asleep here. So now
we've got to check, shift our routine and watch him
here until. Either until the morning or until he wakes
up again. It's kind of like whatever happens to this guy, we just have
to stop and make that the new normal for this
moment.

>> Libby (56:43):
Yes. I think that's really.

>> Howard (56:45):
My. My dad does this. He'll sit at the table
so long after dinner that he falls asleep. And
then everybody has to, like,
it's super disruptive. You know, it's like at
my brother's house with two kids, and here's this
nonagenarian asleep at the table and everybody has
to kind of shape themselves around him for that hour or

(57:07):
two.

>> Libby (57:07):
Please don't let that happen to me.
yeah. And,
I'm partial
to the idea that
they are in nightgowns of whatever
sort, because Vanya and Sonia
comes in still in. In night.

(57:29):
They've been trying. Everybody's been trying to sleep.
And he's so restless and
in pain that he's moved
out and. And Yelena had to
follow, you know, that kind of scenario. In any case,
that's my scenario. You
find your scenario.
Okay. What I'm trying to get at is that

(57:51):
it's important because you got
to know what brought you to this
moment. Like you would in any play. Of
course. But there's a lot
of stuff here so far. The
watchmen tapping,
faraway storm. Maybe there's lightning, I don't
know. Which makes electricity in the air. I mean, there's

(58:12):
a lot happening.
and you can't skip by
it. The other thing I wanted to say, as
we're going to continue, I promise we're going to continue.
The punctuation
is very deliberate.
It is always in anything with language.

(58:34):
But this punctuation is very
deliberate. What do you think the
ellipses are? The dot, dot, dots. And there are many
of them. And they're not all Chekhovs. I admit
to adding myself into this.
So. What do you think? What
do they do for you, the ellipses?

>> Alberto (58:55):
Well, they give me some
prompts as to what
subtext is happening here. before the
next line. what happens
in between. In the space between.
Affectionately Notchka.
And the next line. The pain is unbearable.

>> Libby (59:14):
Yeah.

>> Alberto (59:16):
Am I making a pun? Is the pain
physical or the pain of,
lost love and dead love?

>> Libby (59:25):
You know, or maybe just to get her attention.
I don't. I don't know.

>> Alberto (59:29):
Or, you know, or poor little me.

>> Libby (59:31):
Sweetheart, there's that too.
And there's also real pain.

>> Alberto (59:37):
Yeah.

>> Libby (59:38):
Howard, your 90s,
father would be able to tell you there's real pain
as you get old. It really,
really. All your joints hurt at night when you finally get
into bed. okay, what about
the dashes? What do the dashes give people? People.

>> Alberto (59:59):
To me they're, New thought.
or, interrupting myself
or.

>> Libby (01:00:06):
Yes, yes,
yes. And the kind of the lipses gives.
Gives it. I'm not looking for pauses. The only pauses
in this play are where Chekhov puts them.
Okay, so it's not pausing, but it's the way
we think. We. It
dribbles off or it. Wait a
minute. That's the dash, you

(01:00:28):
know, that it creates something
that's going on in the thinking. So I want. I'm just asking
you to be aware of the punctuation
and don't run by it. See if it gives
you anything. Everything is what it
means to the actor and how it
makes you understand what's going on here.

(01:00:49):
And that you make an emotional map. And
punctuation is as important as word
choice.

>> Alberto (01:00:55):
Thank you.

>> Libby (01:00:58):
Okay,
Let's go back. Let's go back. We
haven't gone very far.
But let's start with. Who's there? Sonia, is that
you?

>> Alberto (01:01:13):
Who's there? Sonia?

>> Sarah (01:01:17):
I'm here.

>> Alberto (01:01:20):
You, Janotchka,
the pain is unbearable.

>> Libby (01:01:27):
Let me just ask you, Yelena, were you
awakened with
the, Sonia, is that
you?

>> Sarah (01:01:35):
I believe so, because the directions say she sits
besides him and also dozes.

>> Libby (01:01:41):
Yes.
So let's try that again with you
being in quotes. Awakened by.

>> Julie (01:01:51):
Okay.

>> Libby (01:01:54):
Alberto.

>> Alberto (01:02:00):
Who's there? Sonia, is that you?

>> Sarah (01:02:03):
I'm here.

>> Alberto (01:02:05):
You,
Leonotchka,

>> Sarah (01:02:12):
Here. Your blanket fell.

>> Alison (01:02:14):
Props up his legs.

>> Sarah (01:02:16):
I'll shut the window.

>> Alberto (01:02:18):
Oh, I'm suffocating.

>> Libby (01:02:21):
Why do you want to shut the window, do you think,
Yelena?

>> Sarah (01:02:25):
the storm is coming. It's
probably a bit windy.
a bit uncomfortable. Chilly breeze coming
through, maybe?

>> Libby (01:02:36):
Chilly breeze would be nice. That's
true. I don't think you get that relief.

>> Sarah (01:02:41):
That's true.

>> Libby (01:02:42):
Definitely a hot wind. M. That's
good. And,
Electricity in the air.
Humid electricity in the
air.

>> Alberto (01:03:02):
Was I reading?
maybe.

>> Libby (01:03:07):
Let's go from here. You know, I want to go from you,
Lenochka, the pain is unbearable.

>> Alberto (01:03:11):
You. You,
Lenotchka, the pain is
unbearable.

>> Sarah (01:03:18):
I'll shut the window.

>> Alberto (01:03:24):
Oh, I'm suffocating.
I was just nodding off and dreamt
that my left leg was attached to someone
else. I woke up with
such excruciating pain.
No, this is not gout.
Probably rheumatism. What time

(01:03:46):
is it?

>> Libby (01:03:47):
Wait, let's. Let's deal with this.
What's going on here?

>> Alberto (01:03:57):
I, was taking it literally. yeah. Don't close the
window. There's a little bit of air at least.
though not much.

>> Libby (01:04:05):
Yes.

>> Alberto (01:04:05):
And, I'm having trouble breathing anyway.
Or I think I am. Or I
have convinced myself I am.

>> Libby (01:04:13):
Yes. Or you want to convince you.

>> Alberto (01:04:15):
Her.

>> Libby (01:04:16):
You are.

>> Alberto (01:04:16):
Right.

>> Libby (01:04:17):
A little bit of all of it. Right.

>> Alberto (01:04:19):
Yeah.

>> Sarah (01:04:19):
There's this perceived objection that I have, as
if I'm about to say it's your gout. Some
sort of previous conversation in there where we
have thought about gout versus rheumatism. And I must
confess, I don't know the difference between them as far as
how it Affects you one way or the other.

>> Alberto (01:04:37):
Gout is, mainly in the lower
extremities, I think.

>> Libby (01:04:41):
Toes and feet. Yeah.

>> Alberto (01:04:45):
they swell up.

>> Libby (01:04:47):
It's considered a rich man's
disease. And it's
trivialized, but it's very, very
painful.

>> Alberto (01:04:55):
Oh, yes.

>> Libby (01:04:57):
And it's considered a
rich man. Of course it's not. It can happen to anyone.
But it's because, from the wine that you
drink and the foods that you eat, the rich
foods create a kind of acid that goes
to those joints and creates
that. So it's a little bit of,

(01:05:18):
an insult
if you've really only got gout.

>> Alberto (01:05:25):
that. Is that what Dr. Astro has
diagnosed me as having gout.

>> Libby (01:05:31):
Well, he says it in the scene.

>> Alberto (01:05:33):
And, Sonia sent for him
saying his gout's acting up or
something.

>> Libby (01:05:40):
Or just said that he's in terrible pain and he's not
sleeping.

>> Alberto (01:05:45):
Okay. So I'm self aware.

>> Howard (01:05:48):
It's also. Gout's also like a first
line of defense that doctors use often.
Like if you go in complaining of some kind of pain, they're like,
it's gout. It's a way of like, kind of putting you
off.

>> Libby (01:06:00):
I didn't know that.

>> Howard (01:06:01):
They'll give you. They're like, it sounds like you have gout. No
matter what it is wrong with you. They'll kind of be like, it's
gout.

>> Libby (01:06:07):
But you have gout. Right?

>> Howard (01:06:09):
Yeah. And m. Me and kind of implying that you did it to yourself
a little bit. Like what you were saying about the wine.

>> Libby (01:06:14):
Exactly. That's the answer, Howard.

>> Howard (01:06:16):
That's right.

>> Alberto (01:06:17):
Thank you much. You eat too much.

>> Libby (01:06:20):
that's right. And all the wrong foods and. And drink
too much wine. Yes.
So it. You're. She's trying
to comfort you by putting your blanket around you,
right?

>> Alberto (01:06:33):
Mm,

>> Libby (01:06:35):
Just want you to notice that and see how it.
If it registers. Maybe it doesn't.
Let's go back from here. Your blanket fell.

>> Sarah (01:06:55):

>> Alison (01:06:57):
She wraps up his legs.

>> Sarah (01:06:59):
I'll close the window.

>> Alberto (01:07:01):
I was just nodding off and I, trapped that my left
leg was attached to someone else. I woke
up in such excruciating
pain. no, this is not
gau.
Probably rheumatism. What time is

(01:07:22):
it?

>> Sarah (01:07:24):
20 minutes past 12.

>> Libby (01:07:25):
Oh, okay. I remembered it later.
Yeah.

>> Alberto (01:07:33):
In the morning. Go look for
Batyushkov in the library. I'm sure we have him.

>> Libby (01:07:39):
Okay. Alison, tell us about batushka.

>> Alison (01:07:42):
Okay.

>> Alberto (01:07:42):
May 1767. To
July, 1865. Whoa.
Good job, Constantine. But
Yushkov, went
a little insane in his old age,
or, middle age, and was.
Yeah.

>> Libby (01:08:00):
What was he known for?

>> Alberto (01:08:01):
Poetry? He was. Yeah. Here's,
one of his lines. I only wake to fall
asleep, and sleep to awake
without end, which is very
apt for the player.

>> Libby (01:08:17):
Very. Now I think
it's time for us to. Why would he
want a volume of
Batiuszka? And
what is he clear planning to do? What.
What's. Why would he ask for it in the middle
of the night?

>> Alberto (01:08:36):
Well, he's like a precursor of
romanticism, I guess. big influence
on, Pushkin.
okay. That's precursor of Pushkin. Anyway,
why would s
want his
today? I thought he was going to write a paper,

(01:08:58):
but of course, he's probably dried up and
he's got writer's block. I, don't know.

>> Libby (01:09:03):
Don't be so hard on him, Alberto. Don't be so hard on
him. You're very nasty about
him. He's not. He's not a
comic villain. He's. He's. He's
in pain.

>> Alberto (01:09:16):
Yeah. It's like
it feels like a young man's, poet,
from what I've read.
So I don't know. Maybe it's comforting
to him.

>> Libby (01:09:32):
Okay, that's great. That
gives you a reason to ask for it. you
know, something that you feel like you need. You just need
to read a little of his work.
Now, also,
what you said before about I'm going to
write a paper on it or it's going to influence

(01:09:52):
something I'm writing already. In other words, he still
feels part
of the academic world.

>> Alberto (01:10:00):
Still working, still useful.

>> Libby (01:10:02):
Still working. Mine's still going. I'm still
important.

>> Howard (01:10:06):
He says it. Oh, sorry.

>> Libby (01:10:09):
Yeah.

>> Howard (01:10:09):
He says in Act 1 when he just
enters very briefly with Yelena and Sonia, and he says, my friends,
bring my tea to the study, if you please. I
still have work to do. So, he's
still, He's
trying to stay in the game or something?

>> Libby (01:10:25):
Yeah, absolutely. Even though we know
he's retired now. That's the whole point.
Let's talk for an instant. Sorry that we're
taking so long on these first five lines, but, it
sets up a kind of vocabulary for us.
when did they come?
Yelena and, Sebria. When did they

(01:10:46):
come and why are they here?

>> Sarah (01:10:52):
Didn't they come about a month ago?

>> Libby (01:10:55):
It's not. I, It doesn't say exactly.

>> Sarah (01:10:58):
It doesn't Say, okay, I made that up, Mario.

>> Libby (01:11:00):
Scenario, Sarah.

>> Alberto (01:11:04):
And I'm sorry, what was the second part of the question?

>> Libby (01:11:08):
Why are they there?

>> Alberto (01:11:09):
Ah.

>> Libby (01:11:15):
Take a shot, Somebody question.

>> Julie (01:11:18):
What kind of benefits do you get as a, renowned
professor? Do you get housing?

>> Libby (01:11:22):
There were no benefits
like any kind of.

>> Julie (01:11:26):
Any kind of. Kind of housing or anything like that. Because, I mean, once
he's retired, there's no reason for him to stay in
the city in a bustling town, so.

>> Libby (01:11:35):
And in fact, we hear that, later
in the play, of course, the big climactic scene,
he's talking about selling this place.
But they must have sold their
place in town at the university,
probably St. Petersburg or something. they must
have. In other words, they

(01:11:57):
left the housing
whether it was given by the university or
not. I don't think we should think in terms
of anybody getting any benefits. It's just an
entirely different world. but, he's
probably. They
probably signed off in
St. Petersburg or Moscow.

(01:12:19):
I don't remember. Do they say whether, they
come from Moscow? I don't
remember.

>> Alison (01:12:27):
I don't remember. I feel like it's
St. Petersburg, but I don't know.

>> Libby (01:12:32):
I feel like it. Well, that's where she went to the conservatory.

>> Alison (01:12:34):
Yeah.

>> Libby (01:12:36):
Yeah. I feel like it's St. Peter because it's more elegant
city. anyway,
they probably sold their digs in
the. At the university, and now they've
come here for what purpose, do you
think?

>> Alberto (01:12:55):
to save on rent for one.

>> Libby (01:12:57):
Yes. Yeah.

>> Alberto (01:13:03):
if they sold it, where's he going to stay? He can't
afford to buy a new place.

>> Julie (01:13:08):
Right.

>> Libby (01:13:08):
In the city if he's retired.
Right. And she doesn't work. Of course
she doesn't work.
So they've come to stay. They.
Probably because it's a summer dacha for
them. A summer house like somebody
would have at a lake or.

>> Sarah (01:13:28):
Or.

>> Libby (01:13:28):
Or, ah, on the beach.
they probably come every summer.
but this is different. Why is this different?

>> Alberto (01:13:40):
they've been here longer.

>> Libby (01:13:42):
Yes. And planning to stay longer.
Right.

>> Alberto (01:13:45):
and they haven't said anything about, oh, when the summer's
over, we're going back to wherever. Moscow slash St.
Petersburg.
Yeah. So it seems like
they, gave the impression that they're here to
stay.

>> Libby (01:14:00):
They're here to stay. Write that down across
your foreheads. They're here to stay. What
could be worse than having
them here to stay? For Vanya,
for Sonia, Even though she, loves her
father. And
she loves her father. So. but it's.

(01:14:20):
It's It's a true. And for Marina.

>> Julie (01:14:22):
Oh, yeah.

>> Libby (01:14:24):
It's a tremendous upheaval to have.
Not only is the samovar still boiling and they
have meals at the wrong time, but they
are stuck at the will
of these people.

>> Alberto (01:14:38):
M.

>> Libby (01:14:42):
And we get that right
away because they're in the dining room
in the middle of the night in bed
clothes, and, everybody in
the house is running in attendance to
him. Okay, let's go back.
Let's go from, La Nochka.

(01:15:03):
Tell me how to say that. Alison
Lenochka.

>> Alison (01:15:09):
Yeah, yeah. So usually with all the
ochkas encas, all that stuff,
usually the stress stays on
what the original syllable would have been as part of
the name because it's
Jelena. Her nickname would be
Lena and then Janochka. So, it

(01:15:29):
always stays with the original part of the name. It doesn't move
to the. To the ochka or anchor.

>> Libby (01:15:35):
Got it. That's a terrifically helpful
comment. Okay.
Okay. Sebriako.

>> Alberto (01:15:43):
You. Oh,
you're not
Leonard.

>> Libby (01:15:50):
That's great.

>> Alberto (01:15:52):
Your pain is unbearable.

>> Sarah (01:15:54):
I'll close the window.

>> Alberto (01:15:59):
No, no, I'm suffocating.
I was just nodding off, and I dreamt that my
left leg was attached to someone else.
I woke up with such excruciating
pain. No, this is not
gout. Probably
rheumatism. What time
is it?

>> Sarah (01:16:21):

>> Alberto (01:16:25):
In the morning. Go look for Batyushkov in the library. I'm sure
we have him.

>> Sarah (01:16:30):
What?

>> Alberto (01:16:32):
Look for Batyushkov in the morning. I seem to
recall we have him. Why can't I
breathe?

>> Sarah (01:16:38):
You're tired. This is the second night
you haven't slept.

>> Alberto (01:16:44):
I say Turgenev developed angina
pectoris from gout.

>> Libby (01:16:49):
I think it's angina
pectoris. Is that wrong?

>> Alberto (01:16:54):
I'm, going. Well, anyway.

>> Libby (01:16:55):
It's a heart.

>> Alberto (01:17:00):
Okay. shall I go with a
church Latin pronunciation picture.

>> Libby (01:17:07):
Since I've never spoken Latin in a church, you
decide.

>> Alberto (01:17:14):
Okay. But I will say angina, right?

>> Libby (01:17:17):
Yes.

>> Alberto (01:17:17):
Okay. All right.
I say Turgenev developed angina
pictoris from gout. I'm afraid I'm
getting it too.

>> Libby (01:17:27):
So you're admitting you have gout, huh?

>> Alberto (01:17:30):
Caught busted.
Damp gust. Old age.
The, devil take it. Now that
I'm old, I can't stand looking at
myself. I'm sure
all of you must be repulsed by me

(01:17:50):
too.

>> Sarah (01:17:51):
You make it sound as if it's our fault you're getting
old.

>> Alberto (01:17:55):
M. But I'm most disgusting to
you.

>> Libby (01:17:58):
Yes. Now now, let's take a moment
and, Sarah, what do you think attracted
you to begin with, in this relationship,
and where is it now?

>> Sarah (01:18:08):
I think his. His talent and his mind attracted
me completely.
and where it is now?
The.

>> Libby (01:18:23):
The.

>> Sarah (01:18:24):
The shine of the mind has worn
completely off because the
mind is
circular. I feel as if I hear him say the same thing
over and over and over again. And it is no longer
fascinating. It's mostly just
wearisome at this point.

>> Libby (01:18:45):
What do you think about his desire to continue
his work by asking you to get that book from the
library?

>> Sarah (01:18:53):
Man, this is all so personal to me.
Caretaking my father, who is this character right now?
So I'm trying to answer for you, Lana, and not for Sarah.
I.

>> Libby (01:19:04):
Well, it's probably a mixture of both, Sarah.

>> Sarah (01:19:06):
It probably is. I think I,
play along. But I don't think
I in any way believe in it
anymore. So there's. There's just, like
sometimes you have the energy to play along. So you do, because
that's easier.

>> Libby (01:19:24):
I don't know about you guys, but I had
crushes on different teachers in my life,
especially at university.
I think it comes with the territory, of growing
up and maturing and seeing
these idols, absolute
idols. you know, your professor

(01:19:44):
knows everything. And if he's not
105 and he's kind
of important to the university
at that time,
you give over. And what did you wind up
with?

>> Sarah (01:20:02):
Yeah, it didn't, He hasn't come of
anything. And, you know, it's possible I can still somewhat respect
his mind, but the reality is
I don't. I don't think I'm
really part of this relationship. I'm an
accessory to my own
relationship. And you can admire somebody's brain
all you want, but at a certain point, when you don't have space,

(01:20:25):
you don't belong in your own space. It's. It
becomes suffocating.

>> Libby (01:20:30):
Very good. Suffocating is such an important
word. and idea in
this. In the whole play and
certainly in this scene. Suffocating from
the humidity and his gap.

>> Sarah (01:20:44):
And I do. Yeah. And I do think that
there. There must be, you
know, a difference
between the man
who he was 10 years ago, where you can feasibly,
you know, feel sexy feelings about
him, versus when it becomes

(01:21:05):
too much of an age difference. You know, there.
There's too much of a difference in where you are in life.
And I, I can only
imagine at a certain point you. You
with that much of an age Gap. You stop feeling
the same way that you did before. At the very least,
you.

>> Libby (01:21:23):
You.

>> Sarah (01:21:23):
You switch from being a wife to a nurse.

>> Libby (01:21:25):
Yes. Which is pretty
awful for a talented,
beautiful woman. And stuck in
the country. In the country as a
possibility. I want you both to
realize that you put your.
You're giving your life over to living with
Vanya and Sonia in this country house.

(01:21:48):
I mean, after the thrill of the cities and, the life
that you must have had some other contact
with.
I'm so sorry we didn't get
any further. I want to read the whole scene again.
I want us to do it twice
today. Okay. But

(01:22:10):
next Monday we'll continue with this. But
we're just laying a groundwork, guys. If we don't
get it all finished, I think we will.
But don't be impatient if
you feel we didn't get to your scene or anything like that. We're
just laying a groundwork of the kinds of questions
to ask and things that seem

(01:22:31):
trivial
aren't. They're just
clues. Like
Shakespeare, whose language tells
you everything. Shakespeare was the best
director in the world and best stage
manager. He knew exactly how to move you around and what.
What you needed to sound like and when you needed to

(01:22:52):
make emphasis on. On a, certain
word in an idea.
Yes. His. His map
is incredibly out there. Once you
learn how to navigate through the.
Through the language.
Chekhov gives you the same kind of
map. No, Chekhov

(01:23:15):
gives you a map. It's
harder to decipher.
Except that you have to answer all of these
questions for yourself. You have to ask
yourself all of these things. Nothing
is thrown away. The movement of,
a blanket on his legs is an
attempt to comfort. I don't know what it

(01:23:37):
is, or to shut him up or help him
go to sleep or whatever, but it has to be
understood in the context of who this person
is and what's been going on.
Okay, let's read the whole thing
because we need pretty close to a half hour
for it. Yeah, cool.

>> Alison (01:23:56):
And Libby with the stage directions. Just
things that actors can't.

>> Libby (01:24:01):
Yeah, yeah. Don't give the actor ones.
cool.

>> Alison (01:24:06):
Okay. the dining room and Serabyakov's
home. Night in the garden. The watchman
can be heard tapping. Sarabukov sits in
an armchair before an open window and dozes. And
Yelena Andreyevna sits beside him and also
dozes.

>> Alberto (01:24:21):
you?

>> Sarah (01:24:24):
I'm here.

>> Alberto (01:24:27):
You know,

>> Sarah (01:24:35):

>> Alison (01:24:37):
He wraps his legs.

>> Sarah (01:24:39):
I'll shut the Window?

>> Alberto (01:24:40):
I was just nodding off and I dreamt that my left leg was
attached to someone else.
I woke up with such excruciating
pain.

>> Sarah (01:24:53):
It's probably your gout.

>> Alberto (01:24:54):
No, this is not gout. Probably
rheumatism. What time
is it?

>> Sarah (01:25:01):

>> Alberto (01:25:08):
In the morning. Go look for Batyushkov in the
library. I'm sure we have him.

>> Sarah (01:25:13):
What?

>> Alberto (01:25:14):
Look for Batyushkov in the morning. I seem to
recall we have him. Why can't I
breathe?

>> Sarah (01:25:21):
You're tired. This is the second night
you haven't slept.

>> Alberto (01:25:27):
They say to Gene you have developed angina
pectoris from gout. I'm afraid I'm getting
it too. Damn
disgusting old age. The devil
take it. Now that I'm old,
I can't stand looking at myself.
And I'm sure all of you must be reborn false by me

(01:25:47):
too.

>> Sarah (01:25:49):
You make it sound as if it's our fault you got
old.

>> Alberto (01:25:53):
But I'm most disgusting to you.

>> Alison (01:25:56):
She walks away and sits at a distance.

>> Alberto (01:26:00):
of course, you're right. I'm not stupid.
I understand. You're young,
healthy, beautiful.
You want to live. And I'm an
old man, almost a corpse.
True,
I understand all too well. And of course it's a

(01:26:21):
terrible crime. I have lived this long.
But wait a little. Soon you'll
be free of me. I won't last
much longer.

>> Sarah (01:26:31):
I am exhausted. For God's
sake, be quiet.

>> Alberto (01:26:35):
Yes, everyone is exhausted. All
because of me. They're bored. They're
wasting their time, they're wasting their
youth. I'm the only one who's
happy. I'm the only one having a good
time. Well, yes, of course.

>> Sarah (01:26:52):
Be quiet. You've worn me
out.

>> Alberto (01:26:55):
Yes, I have worn everyone out.

>> Sarah (01:26:59):
This is unbearable.
Tell me what you want from me.

>> Alberto (01:27:06):
Nothing.

>> Sarah (01:27:11):
Well, then be quiet, I beg you.

>> Alberto (01:27:15):
It's so strange. Ivan Petrovich talks
his head off and that old idiot Maria
Vasilyevnow and it's just fine.
Everyone listens. But when I
say one word, everyone suddenly feels
desolate. Even my voice is
offensive. Well, let's assume I'm
offensive. I'm an egoist. I'm

(01:27:37):
a despot. Don't I have the
right to be an egoist in my old age?
Think about it. Haven't I earned it?
I ask you, don't I have the right
to a comfortable old age, surrounded
by my admirers?

>> Sarah (01:27:54):
No one is taking away your rights.

>> Alison (01:27:55):
The window bangs from the wind.

>> Sarah (01:27:59):
It's very windy. I'll Close the window.

>> Alison (01:28:01):
She closes it.

>> Sarah (01:28:04):
It'll rain soon.
Nobody is taking away your rights.

>> Alison (01:28:10):
The watchman in the garden taps and sings a
song.

>> Alberto (01:28:14):
All one's life to be dedicated to
scholarship, to become accustomed to one's
study, to the classroom, to
respected colleagues.
And suddenly, for no apparent reason, to
find oneself buried in this tomb.
Every day to deal with
stupid people, to listen to

(01:28:36):
insignificant chatter.
I want to live. I love success.
I love fame. I love action.
But here I am. I'm in exile. Here I'm
in exile. Every minute,
Longing for the past, watching the
success of others,

(01:28:58):
fearing death. I,
cannot. I don't have the
strength. And no one can
forgive me for being old.

>> Sarah (01:29:10):
Wait a little. Have patience.
In five or six years, I'll be old too.

>> Libby (01:29:19):
Papa.

>> Speaker E (01:29:20):
You sent for Dr. Astroff, but when he came, you
refused to see him.

>> Libby (01:29:25):
That's so rude.

>> Speaker E (01:29:27):
You bothered this man.

>> Alberto (01:29:29):
Why do I need your Astrov? he
understands as much about medicine as I do.
astronomy.

>> Speaker E (01:29:35):
We cannot send for the entire medical
faculty just for your gout.

>> Alberto (01:29:41):
I won't talk to that idiot.

>> Speaker E (01:29:45):
As you wish. She said it's all
the same to me.

>> Alberto (01:29:51):
What time is it?

>> Sarah (01:29:53):
Almost one.

>> Alberto (01:29:55):
It's stifling.
Sonia, give me the drops from the
table.

>> Speaker E (01:30:03):
Yes, of course.

>> Alberto (01:30:06):
Not these. I can't, ask for
anything.

>> Speaker E (01:30:10):
Please stop acting like a baby.
It may be fine for others, but spare me,
please. I don't like it. I don't have
time. I need to be up early
tomorrow.

>> Libby (01:30:23):
I have the.

>> Speaker E (01:30:23):
Hey, demo.

>> Alison (01:30:24):
Enter Voynitsky in a dressing gown and with a
candle.

>> Howard (01:30:28):
The storm's coming.

>> Alison (01:30:30):
Like.

>> Howard (01:30:32):
Here we go. Helen and Sonia, go
to sleep. I came to relieve you.

>> Alberto (01:30:36):
No, no. Don't leave me
with him. No.
He'll talk my head off.

>> Howard (01:30:45):
But they've got to get some rest. They didn't sleep at all last
night.

>> Alberto (01:30:49):
Let, them go to sleep. But you go
too. Thank you.
I implore you in the name of a former
friendship. Just go. We'll talk later.

>> Howard (01:31:01):
Former friendship. Former.

>> Speaker E (01:31:04):
Be quiet.

>> Alberto (01:31:06):
Uncle.

>> Speaker E (01:31:06):
Vanya.

>> Alberto (01:31:08):
My dear, don't leave me with him.
He'll talk my head off.

>> Howard (01:31:13):
Can you believe how ludicrous this is?

>> Alison (01:31:16):
Arina enters with a candle.

>> Speaker E (01:31:18):
You ought to be in bed, Nanya.
It's very late.

>> Julie (01:31:23):
Samovar is still boiling. You can't exactly expect
me to go to bed.

>> Alberto (01:31:28):
No one is sleeping. Everybody is
exhausted. I alone am, In a state
of bliss.

>> Julie (01:31:36):
What is it, my dear? Are you in pain? My
legs ache too. They ache so.
I've been in pain such a long time.
Avera Petrovna, Sonietzka's mother, may
she rest in peace, never slept either. She nearly
killed herself taking care of you.

>> Libby (01:31:54):
Uh?

>> Julie (01:31:55):
She loved you very much. Oh,
yes. Old people
are like children. They want someone to feel sorry for
them. But no one feels sorry for the old.
Let's go to bed, my dear. Let's go,
my little boy. I'll make you some lime leaf
tea. Tea. I'll warm your legs.

(01:32:16):
I'll pray to God for you.

>> Alberto (01:32:20):
Go, Marina.

>> Julie (01:32:22):
My legs ache too. They ache
so.
Vera Petrovna nearly killed herself.
Always crying. You, Sonieta, were
still little then. Come, come, my
dear.

>> Alison (01:32:36):
They exit.

>> Sarah (01:32:41):
I am completely exhausted by him.

>> Howard (01:32:46):
You're exhausted with him and I with
myself.

>> Libby (01:32:51):
Hold one second. Sarah,
you missed a couple times on words.
Oh, I'm exhausted with
him.

>> Sarah (01:33:00):
With him. Thank you, M.
I'm completely exhausted with him.

>> Howard (01:33:11):
You're completely exhausted. You're exhausted with
him and I with myself. This is the third night I
haven't slept.

>> Sarah (01:33:18):
Something is wrong with this house.
Your mother hates everything except her own pamphlets.
And the professor. The professor is irritated. He
doesn't trust me. He's afraid of you. Sonia
is angry with her father, angry with me, and hasn't talked to me
for two weeks. You hate my husband
and openly hold your own mother in contempt. I'm

(01:33:39):
short tempered and at least 20 times today I started to
cry.
There is something very wrong in this
house.

>> Howard (01:33:50):
Should we cut the philosophy, please?

>> Sarah (01:33:52):
You, Ivan Petrovich, are
educated, intelligent, and you must see that the world is
not being destroyed by thieves and fires and wars,
but rather by hatred, hostility. From all these
petty squabbles. You shouldn't
add to the noisy complaining around us. You should be
helping to find peace in your own

(01:34:12):
family.

>> Howard (01:34:14):
Help me find peace in myself, my darling.

>> Sarah (01:34:17):
Stop. Go away.

>> Howard (01:34:23):
Soon it'll stop raining and everything
in nature will be revolving.
I alone will not be refreshed by the
storm. Day and night I'm strangled by
the idea that my life is irrevocably lost,
that I'm dead, that I wasted my life, that I spent my
life on trifles. Here,
take my life, take my love. What good are they

(01:34:46):
to me? What have I done with them? My feelings are
dying away in vain, like sunbeams falling
into a dark pit. I'm
dying.

>> Sarah (01:34:57):
When you talk to me about your love, I just go
numb and I don't know what to
say.
Forgive me. I have nothing to say to you
good night.

>> Howard (01:35:12):
If you only knew how I suffer from the thought that next
to me, in this very house, another life is dying.
Yours. What are you waiting for? What
damned righteous morality stops you? Don't you
see, Yvonne
Petrovich?

>> Sarah (01:35:28):
You were drunk.

>> Howard (01:35:33):
Possibly.

>> Alberto (01:35:34):
M.

>> Sarah (01:35:43):
Where's the doctor?

>> Howard (01:35:47):
He's here. He's spending the night.
Possibly.

>> Libby (01:35:53):
Possibly.

>> Howard (01:35:53):
Everything is possible.

>> Sarah (01:35:55):
Why are you drinking so much?

>> Howard (01:35:58):
Because it makes me feel alive.
Don't try to stop me, Helene.

>> Alberto (01:36:03):
You,

>> Sarah (01:36:04):
Never used to drink so much. And you never talked so much.
Go to sleep.

>> Howard (01:36:09):
And bored to death with you, my
darling, Beautiful, marvelous.

>> Sarah (01:36:15):
Leave me alone. This
is just
disgusting.

>> Alison (01:36:22):
She exits.

>> Howard (01:36:26):
She's gone.
I first met you 10 years ago. Years ago
at my darling sisters, remember?
You were 17 and I
was 37.

(01:36:46):
Why did not fall in love with you and propose to you
then? Would have been so
easy. Today
you would be my wife.
Yes.
Tonight both of us would be awakened
by the storm. You would be

(01:37:09):
afraid of the thunder. I would take
you in my arms and whisper.
Don't be afraid, little darling. I'm here.
Marvelous thought.
Wonderful. I'm laughing, but
my God, I am so

(01:37:31):
mixed up.
Why am I old?
Why doesn't she understand me?
The way she talks. Her
stupid morality. Her silly
prattling about making peace in the world.

(01:37:54):
I hate it so much.
I've been deceived.
I worshiped that professor.
Pathetic, gout ridden
idiot. Worked

(01:38:16):
for him like a slave. Sonia and I squeezed,
squeezed every drop out of this estate. We were like
kulaks, haggling over vegetable oil
peas, starving ourselves with crumbs just so we could
save a few copics to send to him. I was
so proud of him and his glorious scholarship. I lived for
him, I breathed for him. Every word he wrote or uttered

(01:38:37):
seemed like genius to me.

>> Alberto (01:38:39):
God.

>> Howard (01:38:41):
And now. Now
he's retired. And it has become
perfectly clear that the sum total of his life
adds up to nothing. Not
one word of his, not a single scholarly
word matters to anyone.

(01:39:02):
The soap bubble.
I've been swindled.
I see that now. Stupidly swindled.

>> Alison (01:39:13):
Enter Astrov in a frock coat, without a
waistcoat and without a tie.

>> Libby (01:39:17):
He is tipsy.

>> Alison (01:39:18):
Behind him is Till Yegan with a guitar
play.

>> Julie (01:39:23):
Everyone is sleeping, Sir.

>> Alison (01:39:25):
Playan quietly
strums.

>> Corey (01:39:30):
Are you alone here?

>> Alberto (01:39:33):
No.

>> Corey (01:39:33):
Ladies.
Go to the peasant house. Go to the
fire. There is no place for the master to
expire.
The storm woke me. Big
storm.
What time is it?

>> Howard (01:39:52):
Who knows?

>> Corey (01:39:54):
Oh, I thought I heard Yelena Andreyevna's voice.

>> Howard (01:39:57):
She Was just here.

>> Corey (01:40:00):
What a gorgeous woman.
Medicines, drugs.
There's nothing missing.
Kharkov, Moscow,
Tulskaya. Every
city is plagued with his gout.
Is he really sick or is he faking it?

>> Howard (01:40:21):
Sick.

>> Corey (01:40:24):
Why are you sad today? Pity
for the professor. Professor.

>> Howard (01:40:30):
Quit it.

>> Corey (01:40:33):
Or maybe you're in love with the professor's wife?

>> Howard (01:40:37):
She's my friend already.
What does that mean, already?

>> Corey (01:40:43):
A woman can only be friends with a man. In this
order. First an acquaintance,
then a lover, and then
finally a friend.

>> Howard (01:40:54):
Vulgar.

>> Corey (01:40:58):
Yes,
it's true. I'm becoming
vulgar. I'm drunk.
Usually I get drunk like this once a month. And when I'm
drunk, I get completely vulgar
and fearless. Everything seems
so easy to me. I take on the most difficult operations

(01:41:19):
and do them brilliantly. I make daring
plans for the future. When I'm drunk, I no longer seem like a
freak. And I actually believe I'm
bringing some enormous benefit to humanity.
Enormous. And when I'm
drunk, I see how valuable my own
personal universe is.

(01:41:41):
And the rest of you piddling creatures seem like
insects,
microbes.

>> Libby (01:41:49):
Waffles.

>> Corey (01:41:50):
Play.

>> Julie (01:41:51):
Dear one. I would love to play for you with all
my soul. But understand, everyone is
sleeping.

>> Alberto (01:41:58):
Play.

>> Corey (01:42:03):
You, Need a drink. Oh, I see
there's some cognac left. In the morning we'll
go to my place. Right ya are.
I have a medical assistant who never says
right, but right ya are.

>> Alberto (01:42:18):
Idiot.

>> Corey (01:42:20):
Right. Jar.

>> Alison (01:42:21):
Seeing Sonia enter.

>> Corey (01:42:23):
Pardon me, I forgot my
tie.

>> Alison (01:42:27):
Quickly, he exits.

>> Julie (01:42:28):
Till Yegan follows.

>> Speaker E (01:42:31):
And you, Uncle Vanya, you got drunk
again with the doctor?
a couple of juveniles hanging around together.
Well, he has always been like that. But
what in heaven's name is wrong with
you? At your age? You should know
better.

>> Howard (01:42:49):
Age has nothing to do with it. When you
don't have a life, you live on soap bubbles.
It's better than nothing.

>> Speaker E (01:42:57):
Our hay needs to be cut. It rains every day.
Everything is rotting. And all you can
talk about is soap bubbles.
You're completely neglecting the farm.
I have to work alone. I'm
strained to the breaking point.
Uncle, you have tears in

(01:43:18):
your eyes.

>> Howard (01:43:20):
Tears?
It's nothing. Nonsense.
The way you looked at me just now.
Just like your mother.
Sweet.
Your sister. Your sweet, dear

(01:43:41):
sister. Where is she
now? If only she
knew. Oh, if only she knew.

>> Speaker E (01:43:50):
Knew what? Uncle? What?

>> Howard (01:43:54):
It's so hard.
Nothing,
nothing. I'm going.

>> Libby (01:44:09):
Really well read, guys.
It's really well read.
you know, I was. A couple little things,
Just to think about, Sibryakov.
I know I'm saying it wrong. Allison. It's
Serbriakov. Serov.

>> Alison (01:44:26):
yeah, it's on the cough. Serbyakov.

>> Libby (01:44:31):
I'll never get it. Yeah,
He's a little vain,
Alberto. he's a little
vain, don't you think?

>> Alberto (01:44:45):
Well, he keeps saying all these things and he's
waiting for his wife to go. No, you're not.

>> Libby (01:44:51):
Yeah, that's good. That's good. It just struck
me this time.
Yelena, just want you to
examine how that speech. See
what we're going to do all of this next week. But
I. I wanted just you to think about, you know, when the
house, the something is wrong in this house speech.

(01:45:12):
Sarah.

>> Sarah (01:45:13):
Yeah.

>> Libby (01:45:14):
It. She doesn't know all of
it. It's spinning
and take some time
looking at that. Okay? Yeah.

>> Sarah (01:45:24):
Let it discover instead of yes.

>> Libby (01:45:27):
Yeah. Yes.
and Howard, you're doing such good
work. I know you've worked a little bit with
Ursula and with Allison this past weekend.
I can see how much thought you put into it. It's
terrific.
remember that you are. I don't want you to be

(01:45:47):
afraid of the romantic things that he's
spinning for her. Remember that
you're trying to seduce her. I know you're a little drunk.
Drunk. But you. You're in a
position of spilling now
all that you're feeling. So don't run away
from it and try to get it over with. Seduce her

(01:46:08):
with it. You know what I'm talking
about.
Okay. Okay.
It was good. Any comments or thoughts? It
was really good.
Any comments or thoughts?

>> Corey (01:46:27):
I was just noting. Noticing, how many times when Yelena is
talking about how she's feeling, the next thing
is from,
Is,
Me. Me. What about me? It's
hilarious.

>> Libby (01:46:42):
Yes, exactly. Well,
I guess because
I'm as old or older than, the
professor now, and I,
really feel for him.
What?

>> Alberto (01:46:59):
I said maybe not.

>> Libby (01:47:01):
Well, yes, he's very egotistical. There's
no question about that. But,
old age is tough. And he hurts. He really
hurts. And Marina is the only one who
understands. I mean, she's
annoyed at him, but she understands
too. She

(01:47:21):
becomes his Nyanya. Right there.
It's beautiful. I guess what I'm trying to say is
I don't think of him as a villain. I understand
his dilemma. And I understand what it feels
like to not being in the
spotlight anymore and not knowing where to
put yourself

(01:47:42):
hard.
All right, my dears. I will look forward to next
week. You're reading beautifully. I know. I
wasn't trying to cast you, but I would cast you.
Exactly. Nathan did a fantastic job. You're
all great. I'll, see you next
week.

>> Sarah (01:48:02):
Thank you. Thank you. Have a
good week.

>> Julie (01:48:06):
Thank you.

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Uncle Vanya (Act 2), Week 2: "Conflict and Desire" - The Rehearsal Room

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Uncle Vanya (Act 2), Week 2: "Conflict and Desire" - The Rehearsal Room