Uncle Vanya (1963 film) Uncle Vanya (1963 film) Uncle Vanya is a 1963 British film adaptation of the work "Uncle Vanya" by Anton Chekhov. The film was directed by Stuart Burge. It was a filmed version of the Chichester Festival production, directed by (and starring) Laurence Olivier as Astrov, and also starring Michael Redgrave (Vanya), Rosemary Harris (Elena), and Joan Plowright (Sonya). Harold Hobson of the "Sunday Times" described the production as "the admitted master achievement in British twentieth-century theatre", while "The New Yorker" called it "probably the best 'Vanya' in English we shall ever see". Later films of noted stage productions by Olivier
Uncle Vanya improved. "Uncle Vanya" became a permanent fixture in the Moscow Art Theatre. Other actors who have appeared in notable stage productions of "Uncle Vanya" include Franchot Tone, Cate Blanchett, Peter Dinklage, Jacki Weaver, Antony Sher, Ian McKellen, William Hurt, George C. Scott, Donald Sinden, Derek Jacobi, Michael Gambon, Tom Courtney, Trevor Eve and Laurence Olivier. The play was also adapted as the new stage-play "Dear Uncle" by the British playwright Alan Ayckbourn, who reset it in the 1930s Lake District—this adaptation premiered from July to September 2011 at the Stephen Joseph Theatre. <poem>Are you Uncle Vanya? I am. [Gunshot sounds]