Sophie Okonedo stars in a new Donmar Warehouse production of Brian Friel's version of Turgenev's A Month in the Country, directed by Lyndsey Turner. The Guardian's review praises the production for its delicate balance of comedy and quiet tragedy, portraying it as an accomplished and universal study of unfulfilled love and marital discontent that anticipates Chekhov's later tragicomedies.

Okonedo plays Natalya, a woman stifled in her marriage to Arkady (Thomas Arnold), who rejects the advances of family friend Michael (Alistair Petrie) and instead falls for her son's young tutor, Aleksey (Patrick Gibson), sparking rivalry with her 17-year-old charge Vera (Rachelle Diedericks). The ensemble cast, including Susan Brown and Mark Hadfield, provides comic relief amid the romantic entanglements, while Lesley Travers' striking set design uses a foliage-filled glass box to frame the drawing-room drama. The review highlights Okonedo's nuanced performance and the production's closing meditation on enduring, unreciprocated love. The play runs at the Donmar Warehouse, London, until 3 October.