Russian literature classics are often recalled in terms of their hard-edged realism and excessive number of pages — think Tolstoy’s magnum opus Anna Karenina. So it’s refreshing to see the Silver Commissions Project offer a fun, light-hearted take on Eugene Onegin, one of the genre’s greatest works.
However, there’s a chance that purists might get offended.
Written by Alexander Pushkin, Onegin follows the funny-yet-tragic story of its eponymous protagonist, an apathetic St. Petersburg bachelor who moves to the Russian countryside and arouses the interest of the townspeople. Tatyana Larin — one of Russian literature’s most well-renowned heroines — falls madly in love with Onegin, but the feelings are unreciprocated.
Heartbreak, scandals and violence ensue as the story quickly progresses from charming to tragic.
Having been adapted for the stage and big screen many times already — famous examples include a terrible Ralph Fiennes film and a Tchaikovsky opera from which the musical is partly based — writers Amiel Gladstone and Veda Hille decided to take the musical comedy route.
The end result is a surprisingly enjoyable and energetic show with playful choreography and catchy musical numbers that range from heartbreaking to downright screwball. Even during the musical’s darkest moments, the actors are obviously having a lot of fun here. They drop f-bombs, engage in slapstick, serve vodka to the audience and crack jokes about everything from Lord Byron to Tinder.
Some may argue that Gladstone and Hille’s presentation of the story is far too goofy and those people wouldn’t be entirely wrong. There were a number of moments where the play felt very corny and uneven, particularly when Tatyana spontaneously picked up an electric guitar while singing about her newfound crush. However, Onegin has been dramatically adapted many times already and Pushkin’s text is pretty light-hearted itself. The choice to do a humorous take on it rather than a straight-ahead adaption was a commendable one.
Alessandro Juliani does a very good job playing title character Onegin. He understands the kind of person Onegin is — an arrogant, selfish jerk who’s too spoiled to care about anything — and pulls it off so well that the audience actually sympathizes with his character.
However, the play could have spent more time digging into the complexities of Onegin’s personality. Juliani is a good actor. However, the audience can tell that they haven’t even seen his final form with the material he’s left.
This becomes an even bigger problem with Tatyana, who was presented as rather shallow. In the poem, she’s presented as a character with incredible depth — she starts out as shy and lovelorn, but she eventually grows into a wise, mature woman. Meg Roe did well in the role. But again, one can’t help feeling like the play could have gone much deeper with Tatyana as a character.
That being said, the musical was so much fun that it’s hard to weigh complaints like those too seriously against it. Onegin isn’t the true Pushkin experience, but it’s a very enjoyable musical.
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