Superiority Play
Summerfolk at The National Theatre by Maxim Gorky, adapted by Nina Raine and Moses Raine
A new adaption of Maxim Gorky’s 1904 play Summerfolk has opened at the Olivier Theatre. The stage is bathed in sunlight, cast clad in bright white cotton, linen, and lace, the characters luxuriate in the Russian countryside entertained by literary gossip and amateur theatre productions. But the idyl of this summer scene will not last. This latest version brings the spectre of the Russian Revolution closer, allowing it to haunt the edges of Gorky’s original interrogation of wealth, class, and social responsibility.
As the season draws to a close, the lavish lifestyle of this group, acquired not just in the face but on the backs of the poorer classes, provokes clashes between its members. Some, particularly the women, find it harder and harder to bare the superficiality of their riches. Chairs are thrown, shots fired, choices made. Will any member of the group manage to redeem themselves in time to dodge the coming bullets?
Much of the action centres around the dissatisfied Varvara (Sophie Rundle), married to exuberant and insecure Sergei (Paul Ready). She is dogged by the feeling that her life - all their lives - are at heart shallow, that their actions do serious damage to the wellbeing of the people at large. Varvara’s disgust at the lifestyle of which she is a part is pushed into full on revolt over the course of the play, first in her crippling disappointment in a literary hero, and later at the increasingly piggish behaviour of the men in her social set. Not only hers, but every marriage on stage is revealed to be insubstantial and unsatisfying, each husband resorting to nasty, defensive violence at the very hint of criticism.
Some respite from this carnage of wealth and greed is provided by earnest Maria Lvovna (Justine Mitchell), who speaks truth to power, though this engenders violent outbreaks from the scheming, greedy men who rule their small circle. Peter Forbes’s endearing and funny Uncle Semyon also warms the tense atmosphere, desperate as he is to redeem himself of his capitalist gains and to provide comfort and pleasure to all. Alex Lawther’s adorable Vlass, appreciated only by Uncle and his sister Varvara, madly in love with the aging Maria, is the heart of the play. The painfully impossible love that develops between this unlikely pair deepens Gorky’s political message: there is something rotten in such restrictive and shallow societal structures that prevent true love, trap women in hateful marriages, and convince the wealthy to lock out the poor.
The atmospheric staging is made more charming when, after the interval, a stream has appeared under the boards, deep enough that one man floats waist deep contentedly, while others sit on the bank and dip their feet in what looks to be cool, fresh water. The effect is, for the moment, soothing. But the array of empty wine bottles on the picnic blanket at the centre of this oasis hint that in contrast, tensions are heating up.
This new adaption speaks to our crisis-ridden culture as much as it would to any facing such pivotal moral questions. Luckily, Nina and Moses Raine’s script is rich, thoughtful, and light-handed enough that they are able to use contemporary references, like “for the many, not the few”, with an air of sincerity that would in any other context be, for want of a better word, cringe. Their handling of the play allows the story to be simultaneously timeless and pointedly specific to our current moment.
In Summerfolk, the climactic scene is the outbreak of a vicious argument between the group’s two sides, a split that has developed during this overlong holiday. All profess to have grown up in poverty, but most of the men rally around the idea that, in Maria’s words, it is right to “pull the drawbridge up” behind them rather than share their wealth amongst the people. Vavara, disgusted by her own existence in this business class, fantasises that one day someone will come along and wipe them all out.
Someone will, most likely, in little over a decade.
When Varvara’s speech inspires a misogynistic outburst from her husband, we in the audience wish the pistol that has been lurking since the interval among the props on stage would miraculously appear in her hand. Alas, it is never so useful. But of the multiple gunshots which sound the play’s conclusion we can assume that at least one is destined for Sergei.
Summerfolk is playing until 29 April in the Olivier Theatre.