Andrew Scott, star of Fleabag and Sherlock, is bringing a one-man production of Uncle Vanya to London this autumn.
Scott will take on all the roles in Vanya, an adaptation of Chekhov’s 1898 play about an elderly professor and his young wife returning to his rural estate.
"Heartbreaking, hilarious, sexy, devastating – the genius and extraordinary humanity of Mr Chekhov just knocks me out," Scott said. "It’s a genuine honour and a singular challenge to bring this giant of a play to life in the West End in this new way and I’m so excited to be doing it alongside such brilliant, playful and talented people."
Playwright Simon Stephens, known for the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Punk Rock and Birdland, is behind the adaptation, which will be directed by Sam Yates (The Two Character Play, A Separate Peace).
Both playwright and director have already collaborated with Scott; the actor appeared in Stephens’ Sea Wall (2020) and Birdland (2014), as well as Yates’ short film The Hope Rooms (2016).
On working with Scott and Yates, Stephens said: “To work with these people in the heart of the West End; to be fearlessly creative and exploratory there; to have only the impulse to make art is all utterly thrilling.”
“This is work that reminds me again and again that theatre is our greatest art form. The most alive. The funniest. The sexiest. The most heartbreaking. The most human,” he added.
Meanwhile, Yates said: “It is a joy to collaborate again with Andrew Scott, an actor of singular sensitivity and power, on Simon Stephens’ adaptation of Vanya. Chekhov’s play is life-affirming and heart-breaking, and places human behaviour under the microscope.
“Vanya will push this examination to a new level, harnessing the power of the unique connection between actor and audience possible only in the theatre.”
Previews will begin at Richmond Theatre on August 28 until September 2, followed by a run at the West End’s Duke of York’s Theatre from September 15 until October 21.
