The air shimmers with heat. Sonya and her Uncle Vanya grind through their days on a crumbling rural estate, their hopes shrinking with the land around them. When Sonya’s father, the Professor, returns with his restless young wife Elena, the fragile balance of the household splinters. Resentments flare, desires ignite, and long-buried frustrations rise to the surface. With devastating and violent consequences.

Following the sell-out success of A Streetcar Named Desire at Smock Alley last Christmas, award-winning director Cathal Cleary returns to Smock Alley for the Christmas season with another unmissable classic, staged with a bold, contemporary vision for today’s audiences.