ABSTRACT
In the history of the Art Theatre there were very few examples of an immediate, incisive and complete success from the very first performance. With the exception of Dr Stockman [Ibsen’s Enemy of the People] and Lower Depths [Gorki’s Na dne], it may positively be said that such a success only happened with those plays where a significant role was given to crowd-scenes: Tsar Fiodor Ivanovich, Julius Caesar or Brand [Ibsen].65 It was only long after the event that other so-called ‘winners’ were described as such. After the first performance of Uncle Vanya the feelings of the Theatre company, of the performers, was ambiguous and dissatisfied. With two or three exceptions, the newspaper reviews were also rather nebulous. After about ten performances of full houses, audience figures began to fall off quite quickly, and there were several performances when the house was only half full. Uncle Vanya was to become a mainstay of the Theatre’s repertoire, one of its oldest workhorses, but only in later seasons.
