Season starts with solid ‘Vanya’

The Actors’ Group season-opening production of "Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike" gets off to a slow start, but that’s playwright Christopher Durang’s doing. Two characters have a lengthy "do you remember" conversation in Act 1 that gets the audience up to speed with the premise. Once the story gets past that delivery of information, director Brad Powell’s excellent cast connects on several levels. At times we’re laughing at one character or another. Most of the time we’re rooting for them.

But first, the premise: Sonia (Becky Maltby) and her older brother, Vanya (David Starr), spent much of their adulthood living in the family home and caring for their ailing parents while their sister, Masha (Patrice Scott), pursued a financially successful career as a movie actress. Sonia and Vanya are now middle-aged. They spend their days gently bickering with each other and contemplating what might have been if they had made other choices. Masha sends them money each month. For reasons that are never revealed, she is also the sole owner of the house.

Masha comes home for a visit and brings with her a muscular boy toy/actor, Spike (Nick Freitas). Spike’s hard body and provocative poses inspire stirrings of interest in Vanya. Spike throws Masha off balance when he meets a star-struck young woman, Nina (Jasmine Please), who is thrilled by the opportunity to meet real live actors.

Much of Act 1 is a story of sibling rivalry, jealousy and gratuitous nastiness. It ends with the three siblings, Spike and Nina going to a costume party. Act 2 takes the story in fresh directions.

Maltby does a magnificent job playing a unhappy middle-age frump. She then — spoiler alert! — makes a dazzling transformation. Maltby caps her performance with a lengthy monologue that is guaranteed to have you fully invested in its outcome.

Starr’s eyes speak volumes in the scenes where Vanya silently inspects Spike. When Vanya finally loses his temper, Starr delivers a lengthy rant with a convincing blend of earnest anger and awkward emotion.

Scott is a delightful semivillain playing the stock character type of a wealthy "cougar" emotionally bewitched and a bit befuddled by an opportunistic "younger man." Freitas is likewise charming in another stock character type as the slightly dim and occasionally outrageous boy toy.

Please makes her Hawaii stage debut memorable with her portrayal of a young woman who has more depth than Masha gives her credit for.

Kati Kuroda (Cassandra) completes the cast in the role of Vanya and Sonia’s part-time housekeeper, who also happens to be an outspoken psychic and practitioner of voodoo. A little bit of Cassandra/Kuroda goes a very long way in Act 1. The character takes on more substance after intermission.

Although Durang’s play cleverly blends Chekhovian themes and character types, no prior knowledge of Chekhov is needed to enjoy "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" at TAG.