Acting on the theater stage is an art that captivates the viewer not only due to the plot of a particular play but also due to the dynamics of characters’ images. As a target work to analyze, the play “Uncle Vanya” by the great Russian playwright Anton Chekhov will be reviewed (Yawney, 2020). Despite the small number of actors on stage, each of them demonstrates a unique image, recreated through both verbal and non-verbal tools. In this play, the degree of emotionality is one of the most important factors that distinguish the acting. However, when moving away from the plot, one can notice that the characteristic behavioral nuances of some actors are observed throughout the play. As the target actors to analyze, Jesse Pennington (Dr. Mikhail Astrov), Jay O. Sanders (Uncle Vanya), and Kate Kearney-Patch (Kate Kearney-Patch) will be considered. Emotionality, plasticity, and non-verbal interaction tools are the main criteria to evaluate. Of the three chosen characters, Jesse Pennington has the most pronounced physical plasticity, in contrast to more static Kate Kearney-Patch, while Jay O. Sanders demonstrates confident control over facial expressions and intonations.
In his physical transformation, Jesse Pennington shows the greatest dynamics. From the beginning of the play, the actor appears before the audience as an angular, inflexible, and, at the same time, constantly moving character. Individual gestures with his hands and fingers, which he squeezes in a peculiar manner, are designed to show the public his stiffness and insecurity. The actor uses much of non-verbal techniques, due to which his movements are understandable and unambiguous. His speech is not always intelligible, and this is partly explained by the special tightness designed to show the character’s uncertainty. From an emotional perspective, the actor is calm, although, in some dialogues, he gets carried away and speaks more actively and clearly. Regarding non-verbal interaction with other people on stage, he mainly uses the plasticity of the body but not facial expressions, which characterizes him as a dynamic and not a static actor.
While assessing the actor’s manner of moving around the stage, one sometimes gets the impression that he enters too much into the image of Dr. Astrov and uses angular movements and finger gestures even where this is not required. This is particularly noticeable during his dialogues with other actors when he is either standing or moving around the stage. On the one hand, this characterizes him as a professional actor who does not forget about his image for a minute. On the other hand, in some cases, this specific plasticity of his seems superfluous and does not correspond in pace to individual scenes. For instance, during his conversation with Celeste Arias (Elena), the actor looks constrained, which hardly fits into the dynamics of the scene. However, the image he has recreated is individual and memorable.
From the perspectives of emotionality and the expression of specific feelings, Jay O. Sanders, who plays the role of Uncle Vanya, is the most dynamic character. One of the main features of his acting, which catches the eye from the first moments of his appearance in front of the audience, is his manner of facial expressions. With its help, the actor reacts to the remarks of other characters and demonstrates his attitude to what is happening, for instance, surprise or distrust. In terms of plasticity, his movements are natural and not stiff, which speaks of his experience in acting. Nevertheless, in the course of the play, the viewer may notice that neither the plasticity nor the facial expressions of Jay O. Sanders change, although the plot develops and requires the manifestation of different emotions. One can hardly speak of Jay O. Sanders’ limited acting skills because, for example, through intonation, he clearly reflects the emotions of his character, in some moments making the audience laugh only through non-verbal communication. However, such an image is rather a reflection of the actor himself than the result of his reincarnation.
In most situations, the acting choices Jay O. Sanders makes are logical since his task is to show the public a person offended by life, and facial expressions are a convenient technique for this. At the same time, in some cases, he should act more diversely, for instance, move more to maintain the tension in individual scenes. This is not entirely clear why the actor sits in one place most of the time because his character is dynamic. Nonetheless, on the whole, the image is conveyed naturally, and non-verbal communication methods are applied effectively.
An actress in the play who deserves attention, despite her brief appearance on stage, is Kate Kearney-Patch, who plays Marina Timofeevna, the nanny. Although the audience sees her only in the first minutes, her performance is an important component of the entire play. A characteristic feature of the actress is her unemotionality, which is due to her image. Even when saying her words with a clear emotional coloring, her facial expressions remain unchanged. While speaking of plasticity, one might note that, despite being calm and immobile, the actress uses some tricks, such as imitating her partner’s movements during her initial dialogue with Jesse Pennington. This technique creates the impression of realism and fully reflects the image of an unbiased and, at the same time, wise woman.
Kate Kearney-Patch does not use gestures or other non-verbal communication. At the same time, her tense posture does not allow calling her a static actress. Her head turns while the body position remains the same, which says much about the character. If she had more time on stage, more impressions from her performance could be obtained. Her acting choices are logical because she represents the nanny in the play, a character who is in different conditions from the owners of the estate. This probably would be correct to give her more time on stage, albeit in the background, because her image is important and understandable. Therefore, the only nuance that is perceived as unsatisfactory is a short period of Kate Kearney-Patch’s acting.
Emotionality, plasticity, and non-verbal communication help characterize the acting of Jesse Pennington, Jay O. Sanders, and Kate Kearney-Patch in Chekhov’s play “Uncle Vanya.” The most plastic of them is Jesse Pennington, while the emotionality demonstrated by Jay O. Sanders allows him to influence the audience significantly, largely due to pronounced facial expressions. Kate Kearney-Patch’s static nature should not be seen as a disadvantage because the character she embodies fits her acting style. On the basis of the suggested remarks, a combination of different techniques can help create the strongest impression on the audience, and the lack of a certain technique can be compensated for by other acting approaches.
Reference
Yawney, M. (2020). Russian relative [Video]. Vimeo.