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by Michael Ross Albert, directed by Luke Marty

Squeaky Wheel Productions, Toronto Fringe Festival, St. Vladimir’s Theatre, Toronto

July 4-12, 2014

The prime reason to see this short play is the superbly nuanced acting by its two leads – Caitlin Robson as Anna and Danny Paget as Sergei.  It is also a plus to see director Luke Marty use the space in St. Vladimir’s Theatre in such a pleasure but unconventional way.  The action takes place on the auditorium floor with the audience seated around the space on three sides thus bringing us in extremely close proximity to the actors. 

The point of the play, however, is elusive and has virtually nothing to do with the Tolstoy novel referenced in the title.  The play is much more related to Chekhov and his tragicomedies of self-delusion.  The American Anna unromantically marries the Russian Sergei only so he can obtain a green card – but things change.  Sergei’s family name may be Karenin, but Anna is in no way “Karenin’s Anna”. 

Playwright Michael Ross Albert unnecessarily creates a crisis in Russia to bring Anna’s imagined relationship with Sergei to a head, when all he needed to do was show us Sergei’s attitude to Anna once he got his green card.  That would have provided a more natural and satisfying conclusion to the drama.  As it is, it’s frustrating that the reason Anna is repeatedly drawn to unobtainable men is never clear. 

              

©Christopher Hoile

Note: A version of this review appeared in NOW Magazine 2014-07-10.

Photo: Danny Pagett and Caitlin Robson.  ©2014 Iris Chan.

For tickets, visit http://fringetoronto.com.