Ivan Turgenev's 1850 play presages Chekhov in its portrayal of Russian aristocrats behaving badly, in an idle sort of way. Staging this 1992 version is the first sign of entente between the Abbey and the great writer Brian Friel, whose Irish allegiances for the past eight years have been exclusively to the rival Gate. But beyond this, is there any persuasive reason to spend nearly three hours in the company of Turgenev's self-indulgent, lurve-addled cast of characters?
What's missing here is socio-political metaphor; the play isn't about much more than the horrible things people do to each other - and themselves - in the name of romantic obsession, and its power to engage contemporary audience lies in the extent to which it can make us believe and relate to its characters' passion and anguish.
As such Jason Byrne's production is reasonably successful, and gets more convincing as the evening wears on. He and his actors take the lead from, and eventually inhabit, the relaxed, slightly colloquial, Hibernified style of Friel's version.
Fiona Bell, Andrew Bennett and particularly Don Wycherley provide the evening's best moments in their well-crafted comic performances. Derbhle Crotty copes well with the challenge of the character of Natalya Petrovna. Elaine Symons is also impressive as the betrayed ward Vera: her gestures and vocal patterns feel over-contemporary, but the emotions she communicates are completely credible. Byrne plays up the increasing ridiculousness of all the play's abortive comings and goings so that its final scenes feel like farce. All of which raises the question of why any of this matters at all.
· Until July 1. Box office: 00 353 1 878 7222.
