Chekhov’s play, about the romantic yearnings and professional rivalries of a group of theatre professionals, wannabes and acquaintances, arrives on our screens filtered through a Downton-tinted lens. The result is entertaining enough, particularly when Annette Bening whirls through a scene: ageing actress Irina basks in affirmation, and when she can’t get enough from other people, she provides her own. Elisabeth Moss is excellent as lovesick, vodka-swilling Masha, all unravelling hair and unruly emotions. British actor Billy Howle brings a heartfelt intensity to the slightly preposterous character of Konstantin. But for all the showy acting and lavish production design – this is old-school period film-making of the sweeping-curtains-and- swooping-camera variety – we are left with the sense of a story that has been co-opted into the same accessible, middlebrow terrain that Chekhov was originally reacting against.
