The stage for “Vanya” opened as a small room dotted with three chairs, a plastic stool, a table with a lamp, and a bottle of liquor. A doorway at center stage served as the gateway between a wide variety of characters, portrayed brilliantly by actor Andrew Scott in the one-man adaptation of “Uncle Vanya.”

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect going into this rendition of “Uncle Vanya” — simply retitled “Vanya” here — originally written in 1897 by Russian playwright, Anton Chekhov. “Uncle Vanya” is a story of a man running his estate and business with the burdens of a complicated, but often humorous family and social life.

Since the original version of the play, it has been bent to the will of various brilliant minds, including that of both this adaptation’s director Sam Yates and Scott himself.

Scott immediately grips his audience, not letting go for the duration of the play. “Vanya,” famously known for being a comedy, but with an extremely edgy, and even depressing twist, finds an overwhelming sense of energy with Scott at the helm.

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of characters Scott portrays throughout the show. With several personalities and emotional differences that needed to be displayed, it was a large ask for even a full cast, but Scott does it alone, and he does it well. Not only does Scott seem to hit the nail on the head perfectly portraying his roles, but he seems to do so with relative ease about him.

Throughout the screening, I was drawn in by the simplest things Scott did. He would continually come back to bouncing a tennis ball, smoking a cigarette, and running his necklace through his fingers. All small things that needed no explanation, and perhaps had none, but seemed to add something to the story, nonetheless.

There is a large risk involved in taking such a large cast and shrinking it down to one person, but Scott takes on the risk well. There is certainly a lot to follow throughout the show, and it could most definitely be confusing for an audience member who isn’t a veteran theatergoer, but overall “Vanya” was a stunning adaptation of a Broadway classic.