A Pleasant Proposal

Adapted by Darren Ivany
Directed by Connie Newhook

Reviewed by Alec Brookes

In 2011, when I first came to Newfoundland, I had the good fortune of meeting Andy Jones, who was then directing a production of Chekhov’s The Bear and The Proposal. Since then, trained as a Russianist, with a PhD in Russian literature, I have often wondered why Chekhov has so much appeal here. Of course, his work is a stalwart of classical theatre. Incredibly malleable, whether you have one of Chekhov’s early comedies or one of his later more serious works, you put a mother, a son, and an uncle, for example, in a room, and you let actors explore a situation. Their universality is why you can perform Chekhov’s plays in a Polish forest, on 42nd street, or in Placentia. The Placentia Theatre Festival’s production of The Proposal (Predlozhenie), A Pleasant Proposal, directed by Connie Newhook, answered some of the questions as to why Newfoundland specifically is such a great location for translating Chekhov. Adapted by Darren Ivany, Chekhov’s one-act farce is transported to 1880s Placentia. Written in 1888, set in the fictional Chubukova, the play is handily mapped onto the same period in Placentia, where the railroad was built from 1886 to 1888. The Russian pomeshchik (estate owner) becomes the outport merchant. Uprooted from tradition, the setting of The Proposal lends itself to the parody of a ruling class that aspires to greater wealth in an emergent capitalist economy and, at the same time, has completely lost its bearings. 

In their performance on September 13, at the Barbara Barrett theatre of the Arts and Culture Centre, each actor brought something compellingly unique to their roles, exploring that mix of ambition and disorientation. As the would-be fiancée, Wilhelmina Saunders (Maggie Follett) is able to turn on a dime, from the sturdy, steadfast and almost threatening woman of the estate, chasing Michael Sinnott (Lucas White) around the divan covered in chicken’s blood, to the submissive and love struck lady in a gaudy purple satin dress. She brought comedy to each scene, and these swift and radical shifts compelled their own laughter. Meanwhile, cast off as a cross between Nikolai Gogol and Chris Farley, White was able to channel the latter into his portrayal of Sinnott’s weak constitution, emblematic the provincial elite, who lives like a parasite on the labour of his servants and the value of his land (alienated from his own well being). Wilhelmina’s father (Sean Ryan), who owns the estate and his daughter and who dreams of new-found wealth from combining his and his neighbour Sinnott’s estate through marriage, can neither control nor cope with the radically shifting fortunes, as Wilhelmina and Michael go from belligerent to enamoured. 

I brought my family to the show, including my 11-year old, and we all appreciated our great fortune at seeing such excellent theatre here on the Avalon, committed to seeing more of it.