Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)

Originally a workshop theatrical production that Gregory directed in
New York at irregular intervals from 1989 to 1993, “Vanya” is taken from a
1988 adaptation by playwright David Mamet. Malle filmed it last spring, with
most of Gregory’s original cast, including Shawn as Vanya, a failed,
embittered academic, and the remarkable Julianne Moore as Yelena, the woman
he adores.

The product is a rare look at a work in progress. The actors don’t
“project,” but speak in soft, aching
whispers. The “set” is a bare stage at the New Amsterdam Theater on Times
Square, a dusty cavern of crumbling plaster and eerie textures. The play’s
themes of family discord and lost dreams are enhanced, not betrayed, by the
fact that the actors wear contemporary clothes and not turn-of-the-century
Russian costumes.