Associate Director Robert Icke revives Anton Chekhov’s greatest play Uncle Vanya at the Almeida Theatre, delving into the motivations of people without purpose.

At times farce, at others tragedy, Uncle Vanya questions the value of life in circumstances where everything seems devoid of it. Making his Almeida Theatre debut in the eponymous role is Paul Rhys, whose Vanya is forced to re-evaluate his sense of self-purpose following a sudden announcement with consequences which ripple across his family.

Exploring human behaviour in all of its contradictions, Icke follows his successful reimagining of Oresteia (Almeida / West End) with a provocative examination of wasted hopes, dreams and ambitions, posing the simple but unanswerable question: Why?