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Dramacandidtense

Uncle Vanya: Sonya and Yelena

After a long quarrel, Sonya and Yelena make peace. Talk of marriage leads them both to confessions about Astrov and their own happiness.

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Casting range
Sonya 20-27; Yelena Andreyevna 27-35.
Duration
5 min
Difficulty
Advanced
Relationship
Serebryakov’s daughter and his young wife.
Role balance
Both characters have their own objective and substantial speeches.
Setting
The dining room in Serebryakov’s house. Night, after a thunderstorm.
Scene heading
INT. SEREBRYAKOV’S HOUSE - DINING ROOM - NIGHT
Content notes
Unhappy marriage & Mention of alcohol
Language
English
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Scene work

What is playable here

Objective
Both want to end the feud and talk openly.
Obstacle
Old mistrust keeps Sonya from accepting Yelena, and talk of happiness hurts them both.
Relationship
Serebryakov’s daughter and his young wife.
Stakes
Making peace gives Sonya someone she can trust with her love, and gives Yelena the chance to admit her own unhappiness.
Turn
Sonya asks whether Yelena is happy. After her answer, both begin to speak about what they have been hiding.

Playing age 27-35

Yelena Andreyevna

Wants: Make peace with Sonya and get her to believe the truth about her marriage.

Up against: Sonya has long suspected her of marrying for gain, and Yelena finds it hard to admit she is unhappy.

Choice prompts

  • Find out what changes for you between the polite distance and the first moment you speak as friends.
  • When you talk about Astrov, notice what you reveal about yourself.

Playing age 20-27

Sonya

Wants: Trust Yelena and finally talk to someone about her love for Astrov.

Up against: To open up, she has to let go of an old grudge and risk looking ridiculous.

Choice prompts

  • Give yourself time to believe in the reconciliation before you ask about love.
  • Listen to Yelena talk about Astrov as if your hope depends on every word.
Full script

Uncle Vanya: Sonya and Yelena

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INT. SEREBRYAKOV’S HOUSE - DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Yelena Andreyevna enters.

Yelena Andreyevna

The storm’s over. What lovely air! Where’s the doctor?

Sonya

Gone.

Yelena Andreyevna

Sophie!

Sonya

What?

Yelena Andreyevna

How long are you going to sulk at me? We’ve never done each other any harm. So why should we be enemies? Come now...

Sonya

I wanted to myself... That’s enough being angry.

Yelena Andreyevna

Wonderful.

Sonya

Has Papa gone to bed?

Yelena Andreyevna

No, he’s sitting in the drawing room... We go whole weeks without speaking to each other, and God knows why... What’s this?

Sonya

Mikhail Lvovich had his supper.

Yelena Andreyevna

And there’s wine... Let’s drink to being friends. Real friends.

Sonya

Let’s.

Yelena Andreyevna

From the one glass... That’s better. So, friends now?

Sonya

Friends. I’ve wanted to make it up for so long, but somehow I was always too ashamed...

Yelena Andreyevna

Why are you crying?

Sonya

It’s nothing, I just am.

Yelena Andreyevna

There, there, that’s enough... You silly thing, now I’m crying too... You’re angry with me because you think I married your father for what I could get... If you believe in oaths, then I swear to you: I married him for love. I was carried away by him, the scholar, the famous man. It wasn’t real love, it was artificial, but at the time I thought it was real. It isn’t my fault. And ever since our wedding you haven’t stopped punishing me with those clever, suspicious eyes of yours.

Sonya

Well, peace, peace! Let’s forget it.

Yelena Andreyevna

You mustn’t look at people like that, it doesn’t suit you. You have to trust everyone, or you can’t go on living.

Sonya

Tell me honestly, as a friend... Are you happy?

Yelena Andreyevna

No.

Sonya

I knew it. One more question. Tell me frankly: would you like to have a young husband?

Yelena Andreyevna

What a little girl you still are. Of course I would! Go on, ask me something else, ask...

Sonya

Do you like the doctor?

Yelena Andreyevna

Yes, very much.

Sonya

I’ve got a silly look on my face... haven’t I? He’s gone, and I can still hear his voice and his footsteps, and when I look at the dark window I see his face there. Let me say it all... But I can’t say it so loud, I’m ashamed. Come to my room, we’ll talk there. Do you think I’m silly? Admit it... Tell me something about him...

Yelena Andreyevna

Like what?

Sonya

He’s clever... He knows how to do everything, he can do anything... He treats the sick, and he plants forests...

Yelena Andreyevna

It isn’t the forests or the medicine... My dear, you must understand, it’s talent! And do you know what talent means? Daring, a free mind, a wide sweep... He plants a little tree and already he’s wondering what will come of it in a thousand years, already he’s dreaming of the happiness of mankind. People like that are rare, they must be loved... He drinks, he can be a bit rough, but what does that matter? A man of talent in Russia can’t keep himself spotless. Just think what sort of life that doctor has! Mud on the roads you can’t get through, frost, blizzards, enormous distances, the people coarse and wild, poverty and sickness all around, and in conditions like that, a man who works and struggles day after day can hardly reach forty still clean and sober... I wish you happiness with all my heart, you deserve it... But I’m dull, a walk-on part... In music, in my husband’s house, in every romance I’ve had, everywhere, in a word, I’ve only ever been a walk-on part. Really, Sonya, when you think about it, I’m very, very unhappy! There’s no happiness for me in this world. None! Why are you laughing?

Sonya

I’m so happy... so happy!

Original: public domain

Антон Павлович Чехов

Дядя Ваня · Действие второе · Полное собрание сочинений и писем в 30 томах. Сочинения, том 13. Москва: Наука, 1978. С. 75-89. Викитека по ФЭБ.

Translated by blablabla (2026)

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