Vanya on 42nd Street

Vanya on 42nd Street is a 1994 film by Louis Malle and Andre Gregory. The film is an intimate, interpretive performance of the play Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov based on the English translation by David Mamet. The film starred actors Wallace Shawn and Julianne Moore. Over the course of three years, director Andre Gregory and a group of actors came together on a voluntary basis in order to better understand Chekhov's work through performance workshops. Staged and filmed entirely within the vacant shell of the then-abandoned and decrepit Amsterdam Theater on 42nd street in New York City, they enacted the play rehearsal style on a bare stage with the actors in street clothes. Free from any commercial demands, their performances were for an invited audience only. Gregory and Malle decided to document the play as they had developed it. The film was the result of the collaborative process. Workshop rehearsals with Gregory and the cast originally took place at the abandoned Victory Theatre... full article at wikipedia