Steve Carell, Alison Pill and More on Broadway's Newly ‘Relevant and Resonant’ Uncle Vanya

The Lincoln Center Theater production of Uncle Vanya, newly translated by Heidi Schreck and directed by Lila Neugebauer, begins performances on April 2 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, with an official opening set for April 24. At a recent press event for the production, The Broadway Show asked star Steve Carell, who plays Vanya, what will most surprise audiences about Schreck’s translation of Chekhov's text.

“Well, she translated it into Dutch, which to me was weird,” he said.

“It’s a real surprise,” agreed Carell’s co-star Alison Pill, who plays Vanya’s niece Sonya, not missing a beat. “So we’ve all been spending the week learning Dutch and it’s difficult.”

Kidding aside, Carell and Pill were obviously enjoying themselves during their second week of rehearsals. (The pair previously worked together in the comedy Dan in Real Life.)

“Everyone was so kind and smart and funny,” said Carell of the first week's table work, “but devoted to unearthing every ounce of this script that we can. Because it’s a lot. And it’s fun to do that.” He added, “There are millions of different ways that this show could be presented. And I liked Lila and Heidi’s take on it.”

“It’s been exciting to talk to Heidi about her work on the translation,” Pill remarked, "and watch her sort of think through some of the changes that she wants to make to remove the sense of time and place from Russia a hundred and a bit years ago and make it feel as relevant as it possibly can… Which it honestly already does.”

“This adaptation by Heidi Schreck is really fantastic,” agreed Alfred Molina, who plays the professor, Alexander Serebryakov. “It’s got a lot of resonance for a new audience. It’s not a trip back in time, it’s not a history lesson. It feels very relevant and resonant for now.”

“I’m surprised every single day right now in rehearsal,” said Schreck. “I feel like we’re approaching it with the spirit of discovery and not knowing and creating this truly together as a collective, as a collaborative process. There are already so many things about this production that surprise me in terms of the hundred other versions of this play I’ve seen.”

The Broadway Show also heard from Neugebauer, along with other members of her accomplished cast, including Jayne Houdyshell, Mia Katigbak, William Jackson Harper and Anika Noni Rose.