Written by Laura for Theatre and Tonic

Joel Joan takes on one of the greatest challenges of his career with Vània.

Barcelona’s Teatre Romea hosted the press presentation of Vània, Simon Stephens’ reimagining of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, translated into Catalan by Joan Sellent and directed by Nelson Valente. Produced by Arriska, Focus and Teatre Romea, the production stars Joel Joan alone on stage, performing all eight characters in what he calls not a monologue, but a one-man play.

Stephens’ Vanya premiered in London in 2023 at the National Theatre, directed by Sam Yates and performed by Andrew Scott. It won an Olivier Award and a WhatsOnStage Award. The solo format emerged during rehearsals, when Scott began reading multiple characters opposite himself and managed to impress the producer and director so much that they changed the show’s format.

Joel Joan admitted that on first reading Stephens’ script, he didn’t understand it at all and had to go back to Chekhov’s original to realise just how brilliant the adaptation actually was. Stephens cuts down the text significantly, but in a poetic way that gives it weight and strength.

Argentinian director Nelson Valente stated that directing Chekhov is not an opportunity that comes along often. Though the adaptation is contemporary, “there’s still a lingering taste of Chekhov’s era,” he explained. Both Valente and Joan deliberately avoided watching Andrew Scott’s performance. “If I had seen it,” Joel Joan explained, “I would have directed my efforts toward not doing what Andrew did. The other person’s version contaminates and possesses you.”

Their collaboration, they both emphasised, was built on trust and complicity, something that clearly showed throughout the presentation. They set their egos aside and stated that “we had the freedom to tell each other everything, and everything was accepted.” Joan stated that he took on this challenge to have fun: “I’m not doing this to show off my skills. I’m doing it because I enjoy it. It wasn’t born from ego, but from the desire to experiment.”

Much like in the original play, there are no screens or costume changes. Joan stated that the transformations are internal: mental, emotional and physical. Each character is defined through subtle shifts: a gesture, an object. “Our obsession is that the audience understands the play,” stated Joel Joan.

Both creatives explained that they met Stephens and followed his advice in relocating the play to Catalonia. Names have been adapted and references have been added to bring the story closer to local audiences. The Isle of Man, for instance, becomes Andorra. “The less distance there is between the audience and the story,” they were told, “the greater the impact.”

Vània opens at Teatre Romea on February 24th, for a short run in Barcelona before embarking on a tour. “I’m very moved whenever I go on tour and I see that my work is received with the same force in such different places.”

Stay tuned for our review!

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