In directing an adaptation of Chekhov by US playwright Annie Baker for Red Stitch, Tass is in theatre heaven.

Nadia Tass has directed two plays by American playwright Annie Baker for Melbourne ensemble Red Stitch Actors Theatre – The Aliens in 2011 and the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama The Flick in 2014 – both to great acclaim. Now she has returned to Red Stitch to direct Baker’s adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya.

Rosie Lockhart as Yelena and Ben Prendergast as Dr Astrov in Uncle Vanya. Photo by David Parker

“Oh my god! It’s heaven! My two loves,” enthuses Tass. “Of course they are separated by many decades but what they speak about is similar so it really suits me – because what I speak about is again similar in Malcolm and The Big Steal [the films Tass made in 1986 and 1990 respectively with her husband David Parker].

Chekhov, Baker and Tass all foreground very ordinary people doing their best to get through life, frequently with plenty of heartache and little to look forward to. In fact, Baker has been called a Chekhov for the 21st century. The Aliens is set in...