On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco

“It’s classic comic storytelling done proper.”

Is tobacco as harmful as unhappiness? Anton Chekhov’s masterful short story, first published in 1886, is a tongue-in-cheek satire of pedantic intellectualism, the superficiality of social performance, and human hypocrisy. Ivan Ivanovich Nyukhin has been voluntold by his wife to give a lecture on the dangers of smoking. Soon, he’s gone off topic and begins laying bare his unhappiness and his failed dreams.

Andrew Hogarth, artistic director of No Frills Theatre Company takes to the stage every inch a Nyukhin. His waistcoat is buttoned askew. His pocket square makes no effort to match his tie. He is a man in a hurry with nowhere to be. A surly yet ingratiating confidence marks a set of audience interactions which do much to create a sense of moment and immediacy. Over a marathon sprint of 25 minutes, Andrew hits all the hilariously henpecked one-liners in Nyukhin’s classic monologue. It’s not groundbreaking. It’s classic comic storytelling done proper.

Hogarth’s vision for No Frills is of open access to the arts on stage as well as off. His theatrecraft is ultra-natural and feels spontaneous even as it ouses precision and preparation like a particularly pleasant and well-chosen reed diffuser – black tea and earthy woods for Chekhov, I think.

Perhaps because I have chosen to sit on top of the AC unit and have used my pull at Space to have it set on full blast, I struggle slightly to hear every word which may or may not be my fault. Still, this show could do with a mic and I would have liked a little bit of sound collage to help set the scene, but then I guess those would be frills to an absolutist. Absolutely come for the storytelling done just right. Stay for a classic smashed over the boundary line. Get your shinels on and go see this!

PS. I will be making every effort to see ‘The Bear’ – the other (50min) Chekhov No Frills are presenting from the 19th.