Megan Anderson as Sonia, Bruce Randolph Nelson as Vanya, Beth Hylton as Masha and Alex Benoit as Spike. Photo by Theresa Castracane Photography.
“Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike” (VSMS) is a comedic play written by Christopher Durang which premiered at Princeton’s McCarter Theatre in 2012. It moved to Off-Broadway and transferred to Broadway in 2013, winning multiple awards for Best Play (Tony, Drama League, Outer Critics’ Circle, Drama Desk, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, and Off-Broadway Alliance). After the Broadway run, regional theaters continued to produce the play (this reviewer saw the Baltimore Center Stage production in 2014). It opened in the UK in 2019 and returned to New York at Lincoln Center for a staged reading in 2024, with original cast members David Hyde Pierce and Sigourney Weaver.
This cast abounds in skill…It all takes the expertise of an adept, accomplished director, and Vince Lancisi leaves no comic stone unturned…a crowning jewel from his 35 years of experience directing…
Artistic director Vincent Lancisi addressed the opening night audience and explained his choice of what play he decided to direct before retiring. He reminded the audience of the purpose and value of theatre in the world today and having a resident company. This play pays homage—in the setting (a farm house in Bucks County, PA), and some characters’ names and relationships, and themes—to the plays of Russian playwright, Anton Checkhov (“Uncle Vanya,” “The Seagull,” “The Cherry Orchard,” and “The Three Sisters”). Durang’s eccentric characters and witty dialogue blend domestic drama with absurdist surrealism.
“VSMS” involves a weekend in the lives of mid-life siblings Vanya (Bruce Randolph Nelson) and Sonya (Megan Anderson) who live together in their family home after taking care of their late parents. Their sister, Masha (Beth Hylton), an aging movie star who has been supporting them, arrives in late August with her much younger, narcissistic boyfriend, Spike (Alex Benoit), for a visit. Thrown into the mix are the house cleaner, Cassandra (Chinai Routte), who claims to be a prophetess and a young, aspiring actress and neighbor, Nina (Shubhangi Kuchibhotla).
This is one of those plays where audiences can experience not only the comedic talent of ensemble acting but scenes in which solo performances, almost similar to stand-up comedy, are exhibited as well. This cast abounds in skill, not only with the exciting repartee of the dialogue, but with facial expressions, hand gestures, body movement, and the ability to remain in focus as other characters take the floor. It all takes the expertise of an adept, accomplished director, and Vince Lancisi leaves no comic stone unturned. He offers the audience a crowning jewel from his 35 years of experience directing over five dozen plays. He also shows us the value of having not only a resident company of actors but also of casting outside talent to join them.
Mr. Benoit as Spike is the perfect boy-toy to Ms. Hylton’s Norma Desmond-style actress, Masha. His outrageous physicality—from body movements in a reverse strip tease to cheesy, baby-face expressions—is classic. Masha is the movie star who is always acting for an unseen camera. Every speech is dramatic, with phony intensity.
Vanya is the somewhat closeted, middle-aged gay man, and can’t seem to take his eyes off of Spike, even in scenes where he is not the focus. Mr. Nelson’s monologue in the second act, describing how much he misses the “good old days,” is a tour-de-force of memory and acting. Ms. Anderson’s facial expressions contain Sonia’s life story of what it takes to be the caretaker of a parent and the struggle to regain independence afterwards. She can evoke our sympathy and empathy with just her eyes.
Chinai Routte’s Cassandra is an over-the-top cleaning lady, self-assumed family protector, and dispenser of advice. Her scenes, in which she uses every means of magical spray, voodoo doll, and “air cleansing” to keep away the evil spirits and prevent the sale of the house, are hysterical and full of boundless energy. As Nina, Ms. Khuchibhotla is wonderful playing a “molecule” in Vasha’s play-within-a-play. Her overly dramatic acting in this scene sharply contrasts with her initial characterization as the meek, unpretentious, and unsophisticated neighbor.
The creative team has gone all out to complement the setting and characters. Dan Conway’s scenic design of the farmhouse is so detailed, warm, and cozy that it makes you immediately comfortable. The furniture, props, the depiction of an outside garden, and the house’s façade are colorful and interesting.
David Burdick’s costumes and Denise O’Brien’s wigs helped define the characters with the solid, bright colors of Spike’s casual outfits; Masha’s Farrah Fawcett wig; and the colorful and engaging costumes for the neighbors’ costume party. The plain, frumpy clothing of Vanya and Sonia were in sharp contrast to Masha’s jazzy, modern outfits. Harold F. Burgess II’s lighting design, from backlighting an upstairs window to contrasting day and evening scenes, along with Pornchanok Kanchanabanca’s bouncy music for pre-show and scene changes, also enhanced the production. Stage manager Paul Holmes kept the scene change times to a minimum.
Through clever and witty dialogue, Christopher Durang has written a play filled with Chekovian themes, as dramaturg Robyn Quick explains in her program essay. We can easily relate to the characters of “Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike” and think about what they represent as we laugh at their idiosyncrasies.
We wish Vince Lancisi a happy retirement as, in his own words, he “looks for a path to go forward that provides purpose and happiness.” It will be a future story, well told.
Running Time: Two hours and 25 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.
Advisory: Strong language, adult situations, and sexual innuendo.
“Vasha and Sonya and Masha and Spike” runs through April 19, 2026, at Everyman Theatre, 315 West Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. For more information and to purchase tickets, please contact the Box Office at 410-752-2208, Mondays – Fridays 12 pm – 5 pm, email boxoffice@everymantheatre.org, or go online.The Box Office is also open two hours before each performance for walk-up sales.
