I’ll admit it, I should have re-read the play description before heading to the theatre.

With a three-week-old baby at home, research and preparation haven’t quite been what they once were, and I arrived stressed about leaving home and in a world of my own worry. But perhaps there was something wonderfully fitting about walking in almost completely blind. Like I feel many audience members, I was simply swept along for what the cast repeatedly described as “a really good time at the theatre.”

And that’s exactly what this production delivers.

Uncle Vanya – but there’s ASMR soap cutting videos playing in the bottom right corner isn’t interested in preserving Chekhov in amber. Instead, it gleefully pulls apart the classic, layering absurdity, internet culture, humour and theatrical self-awareness over the familiar text. The result is a production that is serious and ridiculous in equal measure, thought-provoking, chaotic, surprisingly moving, relentlessly funny and unapologetically fast-paced.

It constantly keeps audiences on their toes.

This is the kind of theatre you bring your friends to. The ones who insist they “don’t really do theatre.” The ones curious enough to dip their toes into the arts but wanting something unexpected, entertaining and genuinely funny. It pushes audiences out of the everyday while never asking them to leave their sense of humour at the door.

The cast’s generosity is impossible to ignore. Every performer commits wholeheartedly to the production’s wonderfully unhinged vision, trusting both the material and one another completely. Their chemistry allows the comedy to land effortlessly, while ensuring the quieter emotional moments never feel lost beneath the absurdity.

It also serves as a timely reminder of just how extraordinary South Australia’s theatre community is.

Recently award-winning comedian and actor Yoz Mensch brings boundless energy to the title role, while Poppy Mee, fresh from Adelaide Cabaret Festival, continues to demonstrate her remarkable versatility. Director and performer Mary Angley, a multi-award-winning theatre-maker and graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts’ Master of Directing program, showcases wit and humour and is one contemporary theatre-maker to watch.

Even if this particular show isn’t quite your cup of tea, I’d confidently say you’ll be seeing this cast and creative team again very soon. They’re artists worth following.

The production is also a shining example of why the State Theatre Company South Australia’s SPARK program matters.

As Artistic Director Petra Kalive explains:

“SPARK is a space for fearless, unfiltered, electric theatre to help the new wave of independent theatre in South Australia… We want artists to do art, not be bogged down by all the other things it takes to put on a show.”

The initiative provides independent artists with rehearsal space, production support, marketing, publicity and a professional venue, while returning 100 per cent of box office revenue directly to the artists. It’s an investment not just in individual productions, but in the future of South Australian theatre itself.

Productions like Uncle Vanya – but there’s ASMR soap cutting videos playing in the bottom right corner are exactly why initiatives like SPARK exist. They take risks. They challenge expectations. They create space for artists to experiment without compromise.

Most importantly, they remind us that theatre doesn’t have to feel intimidating.

Sometimes it can simply be strange, hilarious, clever, moving, and yes, a really good time.