Review: A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY at Donmar Warehouse

Stripping back the languid and stilted air, Sophie Okonedo’s Natalya Petrovna is revealed to be a glamorous yet spiky and tetchy matriarch. At turns, bored and manipulative, she manages the household for her engineer husband Arkady (Thomas Arnold), casts aside one doting lover Michel Rakitin (Alistair Petrie delivering a masterclass in restrained passive aggression) and develops an all-consuming obsession with the virile young man Aleksey Belyayev (an effortlessly appealing Patrick Gibson) whose arrival from Moscow a month prior to serve as tutor to Natalya’s son, gives the play its title.

Further embellishing this characterful household framework, are two women at opposite ends of the age spectrum. Firstly Arkady’s sage and genteel mother Anna Islayeva (Susan Brown) who epitomises calm grace and wistfulness as she delivers first hand advice to her anguished son on the dignified acceptance of extramarital affairs. The scene proves one of the high-points in the play. And secondly, Vera Aleksandrovna (Rachelle Diedericks) whose youthful naivety in matters of love is underpinned by an innate natural ability to detect and openly challenge with the assuredness of youth, Natalya’s underhand manipulation of others. Elsewhere, there are slightly hammy but enjoyable contributions from Daniel Rigby and Amanda Wilkin as a burgeoning bourgeois couple and an equally amusing lower-orders pairing of Jonathan Livingstone and Jessica Brindle. Love (or at least lust) it would seem, is in the air.

A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY proves as much a commentary on the manners of civility in matters of (in)fidelity, as a social treatise on Russia’s class system under the Tsars. As such the piece focuses on the characters and their yearning for companionship and connection, albeit these are often driven by hormonal urges. Given the prevalence of men in literature experiencing mid-life crises, it is a pleasure to witness a woman centre stage, battling her own inner turmoil and emotional demons, and Ms Okonedo most assuredly delivers the goods in this production. Also appearing, are Michael Hodgson as the unworldly Bolshintsov and Mark Hadfield as the irritating house guest Herr Schaaf.

The run continues at Donmar Warehouse until 3rd October and plays 2 hours and 20 mins with interval.

A Month in the Country Tickets