Life Sucks.

C-

Playwright Aaron Posner has built a reputation adapting other authors’ works. Among those to have received the Posner treatment are Chaim Potok (I saw My Name Is Asher Lev several years ago and enjoyed it), Ken Kesey, Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut and, most recently, Anton Chekhov. First off was Stupid Fucking Bird, his take on The Seagull, which was well received. Then came No Sisters, his version of Three Sisters, which I don’t think has been seen in New York. Most recently, there is Life Sucks. which the program describes as “sort of adapted from Uncle Vanya.” Its Wheelhouse Theater Company production was dubbed a Critic’s Pick by the Times, so the show is now enjoying an encore run on Theatre Row with the same cast except for the title character. I’m afraid that I can’t join in the enthusiasm for the play. Posner’s method seems to involve using the F word as often as possible, adding a few contemporary touches such as a reference to student loans, and breaking the fourth wall not only to address the audience but to interrogate it. The list of characters mostly follows Chekhov except that family dependent “Waffles” has become “Pickles,” a lesbian, and Vanya’s mother has been replaced by a distant relative Babs, who is the closest thing to a well-adjusted character in the play. The acting is mostly solid. Austin Pendelton’s (Choir Boy) professor appeared so fragile that I feared he might not make it through the play. Kimberly Chatterjee (Pride and Prejudice) is a fine Sonia. Nadia Bowers (Describe the Night) is especially strong as the professor’s complicated wife Ella. Michael Schantz (Fashions for Men) is credible as Dr. Aster. Stacey Linnartz (Strange Bare Facts) does her best in the rather ludicrous role of Pickles. As Babs, Barbara Kingsley (August: Osage County) has almost nothing to do until late in the second act, when she commandeers the play for a lengthy reminiscence and a confession, neither of which remotely relates to Chekhov. Kevin Isola (Our Lady of 121st Street), who joined the cast as Vanya, seemed whinier than necessary. Except for a computer sitting on a table, the set by Brittany Vasta (Happy Birthday, Wanda Jane) with Tiffany lamps, floral wall hangings, generic furniture and a conspicuously unfinished back wall imprinted with instructions for the stagehands, could be anywhere anytime since the advent of electricity. The costumes by Christopher Metzger (Happy Birthday, Wanda Jane) are also nonspecific as to time or place. The direction by Jeff Wise (Happy Birthday, Wanda Jane) at times seemed sluggish, at other times indulgent. Aside for a few moments, such as the confrontation scene between Ella and Vanya, I was rarely moved. Perhaps if I had not seen Richard Nelson’s fine version at Hunter College this past season, I might have been more forgiving. In any case, this was not my cup of tea. Running time: two hours 30 minutes including intermission.