A Fly-On-The-Wall, Hyper-Intimate ‘Uncle Vanya’ In A Manhattan Loft

On a recent Friday evening, in a loft in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, a woman sat at a piano bench, illuminated by candlelight and lost in her private thoughts. “I’ve been without music for such a long time,” she said to herself. “All I want to do now is play and weep, weep like a lost soul.”

It was a private moment of wistfulness shared by an audience of 40, in an intimate, site-specific production of “Uncle Vanya.” Directed by Jack Serio, the show places audience members in fly-on-the-wall proximity with the disconsolate figures of Chekhov’s play. Meanwhile, through the windows, darkness descends.

The singular and heart-wrecking production, set to close July 16, stars Tony Award-winner David Cromer, Will Brill, Julia Chan, Will Dagger, Marin Ireland, Bill Irwin, Ann McDonough, and Virginia Wing.

Scenic designer Walt Spangler transformed the loft into a setting that evokes a rural estate. He told Forbes about his work on the show.

Walt, how would you sum up your overall vision for the show?

The very choice to put on “Uncle Vanya” in a private Manhattan loft for a hyper intimate group of people each night kind of defines itself and does half the work for you! Overall our vision for the scenic design is to accept and feature the modern loft for what it is, and at the same time completely transform it to evoke another time and place or maybe even a whole century that has passed since Chekov wrote the play in 1897.

When the first audiences saw “Uncle Vanya” over a hundred years ago, it was not an old story or a well-known classic — it was immediate and fresh, honest and raw — people talking the language of the day. From the get-go our director Jack Serio insisted we give the audience that same experience. Not that we are setting the story in contemporary times — we are not. But exposing the modern space and inhabiting it with contrasting elements from rural farm life creates a kind of surreal, timeless truth and honesty that you just can’t get in a typical theater space. There simply is no artifice to the room. When a character opens a window, you know it’s a real window and that’s the real outside — there’s just nothing else like it in theater.

What are the unique challenges of the job of scenic designer for a site-specific production like this?

A site-specific location like this demands a much greater degree of respect and consideration from all the designers, because you can never forget that it belongs to someone who likely cares a lot about how the space is treated and left behind. Most theater spaces come with a rugged, blank surface that screams “Have your way with me!” This private loft space is pristine, no blemish in sight, and was even full of valuable artworks when we arrived. So we’ve had lots of careful conversation and puzzled stares between us about how to manage literally every screw, every means of attachment with a kind of ‘do no harm’ ethos always at the front of our minds.

What about the unique delights?

On the flipside the real textures and architectural details a site-specific room offers can’t be beat. Those are real brick walls, that’s a real glass window and fire escape to the roof. That’s real running water. These things cannot ever be fully realized in theater unless you’re in a space like this, so it’s worth the extra challenges you face in order to protect it and ‘leave no trace.’

What can you tell us about the loft itself?

The space we’re working in is a private loft on the second floor in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. It’s been completely opened up and renovated with gorgeous, cozy red brick walls and a fully restored vaulted ceiling from one end to the other. One of my favorite features is a nearly floor-to-ceiling rear window that looks out onto the inner courtyard, and there is a nifty double door exit out the back wall onto a towering fire escape. Both these elements have become crucial to the rural farm estate vibe the story wants.

I have completely fallen in love with the space and will be heartbroken to leave it. I think many of us in the company would say that our experience living and working in the space for the past few weeks parallels the story of Vanya as many of the characters in the story are merely sojourning for a while at the country estate — and have also fallen desperately in love or lust. There have been nights when even after long days of grueling work it felt like no one wanted to leave and we’d order out pizza and wine and just stay a while longer.

Can you paint a picture for readers, and give an idea of what they can expect from the space? Including a sense of the realism (or otherwise) in your design?

The most unique aspect of this production that the audience will experience is how absolutely intimate and visceral and ‘real’ it feels. We have embraced the sleek modern space as it is and filled it with a mixture of just enough well chosen items, some of the period, some of right now, to evoke a feeling, a vibe — not so much a specific period, but a timeless country farm atmosphere the uses every inch of the space and its wonderful attributes. In my own experience, I find that people who are longing for love and connection with others find it in the most surprising places and ways at all times of the day and night; and that’s the feeling you get when watching these characters just inches away from you in this space. When the outside doors open there is a genuine gust of air to be heard and felt and breathed in.

Are there any particular scenic elements you are particularly proud of in this production?

I’m particularly proud of how the kitchen area of the show turned out. It was honestly sort of the most daunting aspect of the loft at first, because it is so glaringly modern, sleek and white. At first I didn’t know how I was going to make that work for Chekhov or not seem like an eye sore in the otherwise cozy brick environment. Once I decided to just embrace the white kitchen for what it is rather than try to hide it, a whole world of possibilities opened up. The kitchen with its many cabinets and a gorgeous central island made of industrial steel flat-files has transformed into an emotionally charged, intimate space for the actors to work in. Just the other morning I watched the rehearsal for a poignant scene of unrequited love unfold atop the flat file island and was moved to tears.