Russian Transport

Russian Transport, by award-winning playwright Erika Sheffer, was produced in the US by the prestigious Steppenwolf Theatre Company.  Sheffer’s play has its first Australian season at Eternity Playhouse. (Eternity Playhouse is a wonderful venue.  Not only is there raked and staggered seating, with lots of legroom, stained glass windows and beautiful timber, but all three levels are wheelchair accessible.)  

The play focuses on a Russian family in Brooklyn, the tensions between the family members, how they respond in difficult circumstances, and the consequences of their choices.  A Chicago newspaper described the US production as “raw, strong, disturbingly funny…”.  The Australian production is funny, and the humour is very dark.  In fact, before the play starts a voiceover warns it contains “strong language and violent themes”.        

Harsh-sounding Russian music sets the tone for the morally murky subject matter and coarse humour.  The set design takes advantage of the wide stage and high ceiling to create different physical locations for the action of the play.  The lighting further differentiates these areas.    

The cast use American accents, Russian accents, American-Russian accents, and most impressively, speak in Russian.  You can understand the Russian from the context, reactions and emotion.  Initially I found that the accents, combined with rapid-fire delivery of dialogue, made it difficult to catch all the words, though your ear soon becomes accustomed to the accents.  And using the Russian language definitely adds another layer to the production.

The cast are to be congratulated on their accents and language skills.  Not many people learn Russian, unless they’re NASA astronauts, or concert pianists.

Hayley Sullivan does a fine job of playing four different characters, especially the three Russian girls.  There is a nice relationship between Hayley as Mira, and Ryan Carter as her brother Alex. 

Rebecca Rocheford Davies plays the mother, Diana.  She revels in the humour of the role, and brings energy to the stage.  In addition to playing Diana, Rebecca produced the play.

Though Russian Transport covers difficult subjects with humour, and has some very memorable lines, I didn’t feel there was a central message for the audience.  I also felt the ending could have been stronger.  That said, the opening night audience clearly enjoyed the production.  They laughed frequently throughout the night, and not only applauded enthusiastically, but cheered.

Vanessa Cruise

Photographer: Nino Tamburri.