‘Chekhov in Yalta’ Can Amuse--but Chekhov in Cypress Misses the Mark

“Chekhov in Yalta” is a little like a revisionist’s toy box. Stanislavski, the legendary director and actor, is sketched as a boob who confuses Ibsen’s plays with Chekhov’s. Writer Maxim Gorky is merely a political hothead who gushes about the proletariat. Chekhov himself comes across as not much more than a bright, benevolent father figure to an adoring group of artists.

John Driver and Jeffrey Haddow’s play isn’t meant to be precise history, though. This is a fanciful enterprise, designed to color the facts with comic strokes, all the while puncturing the myths and humanizing everybody along the way. Above all, it’s supposed to be a kick, and even when it’s not performed as well as it could be (as at the Cypress Civic Theatre Guild), “Chekhov in Yalta’s” whimsical charm still manages to come through.

The play’s premise, at first reading, may seem precious, if not altogether contrived. Chekhov, suffering from tuberculosis, is taking the cure at his favorite spa in Yalta, finishing up “Three Sisters” and gently trying to turn a favored actress into a favored mistress.

Enter his literary pals, Gorky and novelist-poet Ivan Bunin, a pair of actors from the Moscow Art Theatre and Stanislavski and his unhappy wife. They all commiserate and quarrel (Stanislavski is the major irritant; Chekhov keeps reminding us how badly the man directs his plays) on a grand scale. Like any good vacation, there is plenty of excitement, and even an affair or two.

It all unfolds with some sunny dialogue, occasionally deep and meaningful, but more amusing than anything else. Driver and Haddow seem to think that Chekhov would have liked it that way. More than once, their Chekhov argues that his plays were comedies, not the tragedies that Stanislavski came up with. In “Chekhov in Yalta,” we get a comedy with Chekhovian overtones.

The structure is very Chekhovian too, requiring excellent ensemble acting to plumb the sly parallels with the playwright’s classics, especially “Uncle Vanya” and “Three Sisters.” And it’s here that problems emerge in Cypress--most of the actors just aren’t able to fully convey the proper Chekhovian aura.

Herb Howey’s muted Chekhov is a telling example. For sure, Driver and Haddow have written Chekhov as the most even-tempered, good-hearted of geniuses, but Howey takes this bland likability to the max. It just doesn’t ring true; even the most revisionist of portraits would have to show more glimmers of Chekhov’s complicated intelligence.

There are, however, some bright spots. Darren Foreman’s Bunin is a witty, sensitive man with just the right mocking streak, a spirited foil for Patrick Warburton’s volatile but often one-dimensional Gorky. Edward Escobar as the manipulative co-director of the Moscow Art Theatre, Jillian Smith as Chekhov’s sister and Carol Flanders as Chekhov’s mistress also have some strong moments.

Unfortunately, director Evan Weinstein hasn’t been able to generate enough of these moments or drape the production in a consistent gracefulness. But in Weinstein’s defense, “Chekhov in Yalta” is not the easiest of comedies to pull off.

‘CHEKHOV IN YALTA’

A Cypress Civic Theatre Guild production of John Driver and Jeffrey Haddow’s comedy. Directed by Evan Weinstein. With Darren Foreman, Herb Howey, Jillian Smith, Patti Flores, Patrick Warburton, Carol Flanders, Mitch Goodson, Erik Silver, Edward Escobar, Paul Boyer and Trisha King. Set and sound by Evan Weinstein. Costumes by Linda Jeter and lighting by C. Martin and Rick Shapiro. Plays at 8 p.m. Friday through Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday through Jan. 28 at 5172 Orange Ave., Cypress. Tickets: $5 to $6. (714) 229-6796.