The Coast of Utopia: Voyage

I believe Tom Stoppard to be a genius. That’s really the most important thing for you to know. I would go to see any play he wrote on any subject.  This play is the first in a trilogy about three decades of Russian history.  This first play focuses on an upper class family who embrace liberal ideas, and yet maintain 500 serfs on their estate.  The first act takes place at this estate, and the family’s revolutionary friends come to visit, telling them of what is happening in Moscow.  The second act is the same period of time, but in Moscow, and the family members appear periodically as visitors.

I have every faith that this play is brilliant, but I confess, I know very little about Russian history.  Therefore, I did not know which of the characters were real historical figures (but I know that some were), and which were fiction.  I didn’t let it concern me too much.  I listened to all they said, and tried to understand as much as possible.  Hopefully I will get a clearer picture as the trilogy continues.

Of course I loved my usual favorites, Billy Crudup (who, if you ask me, should do stage the rest of his life and never make another movie – they just don’t do him justice), Jennifer Ehle, Brian O’Byrne.  And no more or less of a surprise, I could have done without Ethan Hawke, although he did grow on me a bit.

*Forgot the most important part of the review!  The dementors were the serfs, so they were usually visible in the background through most of the first act – in the beginning, all of the actors ran out from among them.  They were creepy, and there were 50 of them (I counted).  I wonder if they’ll be in the other plays too.  I kind of hope so.