Daily Mail
March 30, 1994
By Jack Tinker

Helen Mirren is back on the London stage. And London should lay down red carpets the length of St. Martin's Lane to welcome her return.

For she has taken one of the greatest yet most elusive of roles and made it entirely her own. To be truthful, Turgenev does not make it easy for his heroine. Confined to the traditions which predate later masters such as Chekhov or Ibsen, he is inclined to signal the absurdities of middle-class life with some pretty turgid-ev asides: "Am I jealous of Vera...?" she broods darkly. Lesser actresses can make such arch introspection seem more like a season in Siberia.

But Miss Mirren dazzles and delights with her mercurial changes of mood. We find her entombed in the depth of her husband's country estate, fairly throbbing with the frustrations of a bored wife whose suppressed sensuality has been aroused by the arrival of her son's new tutor (Joseph Fiennes more than filling the romantic requirements of the role).

Her performance discovers the most surprising comic moments as well as exploring all the sad foolishness of her position. Indeed, had Chekhov created such an exotic creature she would have left her cherry orchard to find love and freedom in Paris; had Ibsen written Miss Mirren such a role, she would have slammed the door of her doll's house and embraced an unkown independence with a glad heart.

But this is a woman who has always wanted her cake and to eat it. Miss Mirren punctuates her astounding performance with the greedy smiles of just such a creation.

Bill Bryden's meticulously observed and exquisitely designed revial avoids most of the reverential awe which often hangs over the sparkling spirits of this play. And an impeccable cast gives the special quality needed to sustain such a sublime central presence. John Hurt's crumple-countenanced fortitude as her faithful suitor, Gawn Grainger's simple and puzzled dignity as her long-suffering husband and John Standing's sudden bouts of bluff buffoonery as their insensitive family doctor - all make their mark.

It is a splendid study of tangled emotions and misunderstandings, but above all an absorbing insight into a selfish but fascinating woman whose only real need is to be adored. Miss Mirren makes this vain and silly female seem so magnificent and so very modern.