Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Laura Strausfeld’s THE REAL IVANOV truncates and puts a farcical spin on Chekhov’s early-career play, to mixed results

• By drediman
• September 1, 2026
• No Comments

Anton Chekhov’s rarely-performed play Ivanov has been receiving notable attention as of late. Earlier this year, the newly-formed New American Ensemble presented a fabulously maximalist Off-Broadway revival of the play. On the starrier front, film star Chris Pine will be appearing in a London production next spring at the Bridge Theatre. Now we have The Real Ivanov, Laura Strausfeld’s new adaptation that’s currently enjoying a late summer run at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater, a venue familiar to most theatergoers as the home of Classic Stage Company (prior to these, I had previously seen the play twice, once in the West End in 2008 with the beloved Kenneth Branagh in the endlessly frustrated and frustratingly indecisive title role, and then a 2012 Off-Broadway revival with Ethan Hawke at the very same theater as the current production).

In essence, Chekhov’s early career work is a meditation on the fragility of mental health — namely depression — in the face of romantic and financial disillusionments, and the havoc such devolving psychological states can wreak when left unchecked and unaddressed. In the piece, the playwright also meddles with themes and character types that would spring up, in more refined manifestations, in his later more mature and well known plays. In order to camouflage the work’s flaws and the infuriating tendencies of its title character, Ivanov needs to be played at full throttle (which is what the New American Ensemble production so brilliantly did). In addition to penning the truncated new adaptation, Strausfeld also directs, coming up with a lean in-the-round production that endeavors to put a madcap, farcical stamp on the play.

This fascinating approach only goes so far. Indeed, despite some appealing, at times stylish staging choices — e.g., the highly physical and choreographed blocking throughout — the overall conceit of The Real Ivanov is a bit fuzzy from the get go, which is most evident in the nonsensical contemporary incidental music and the uneven acting. In the title role, Sam Underwood has the whining down pat. However, he lacks the magnetism and charisma to balance out the character’s occasional maddening trips down his psychological rabbit holes. Coming off best is Jordan Lage, whose Count Shabyelsky is portrayed with the kind of brash clownish buffoonery that seems in perfect synchronicity with Strausfeld’s vision. Otherwise, the supporting cast is only in moments tonally on the same page, despite the concerted effort to work together as an ensemble.

SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED

THE REAL IVANOV
Off-Broadway, Play
Lynn F. Angelson Theater
1 hour, 40 minutes (without an intermission)
Through September 19