Summerfolk

The “elite intelligentsia” is best described as a group of individuals who engage in mental labour aimed at disseminating culture. This group of people—made up of doctors, lawyers, engineers, writers, students, and even lovers and unhappy wives—are the focus of Maxim Gorky’s Summerfolk, a 1904 Russian play that examines the intense anxieties and hopes of the elite intelligentsia of Russia in the early 20th century. Now on stage at Ryerson Theatre, Summerfolk follows a very large and diverse cast of characters who search for meaning in their lives, and the lives of their peers, at a summer picnic.

The first act introduces the audience to the primary characters of the production as they mill about in anticipation of the visitors coming for their picnic. The relationship between Varya (Elysia White) and her husband Sergei (Jordan Campbell) is shown to be a distant one, while Varya’s brother Vlas (Tal Shulman) is a scene-stealing, neurotic character who works for Sergei. As visitors arrive, a great deal of bantering back and forth reveals the different characters’ personalities and anxieties—Kaleria (Rebecca Liddiard) writes poetry to express herself, Olga (Alanna Bale) is a highly anxious, jumpy character, while the married couple Yulia (Hilary McCormack) and Nikolai (Eldrick Manning) fawn over each other in public, but Yulia’s insecurities are revealed when she is alone. Late in the first act,Varya’s excitement at the arrival of Yakov (Chris Whidden), a writer she is obsessed with, shows the true reason for her distant relationship with her husband.

The second, third, and fourth acts are vastly different from the first, and it seems at times as though the audience is watching an entirely different production, which takes away from the story’s consistency. Due to the large cast, and the fact that the characters are only properly developed by the final two acts, the audience is unfortunately unable to connect with any one story in the production, and the stage is always chaotic with various stories playing out at once. At three hours, Summerfolk is very long, and yet the audience does not have time to get to know any one character. However, what the production lacks in consistency it makes up for in the quality of the Ryerson Theatre School performers, notably Katie Davis as Sonya, who brings a childlike innocence and strong stage presence to the character, as well as Tal Shulman as Vlas, whose comedic timing is brilliant.

Summerfolk runs until November 2 at the Ryerson Theatre. Click here for more information on this show and learn about upcoming performances in the 2012/2013 season.