WHO is Mikhail Platonov - a sex symbol, anti-hero, chauvinist pig or the symbol of a lost generation?

The 30-year-old disillusioned Russian village school teacher has a lot resting on his shoulders.

Helena Kaut-Howson’s modern adaptation of Chekhov’s first play Platonov centres on a group of cynical young Russians, who like to drink vodka, partake in intellectual discussions and party.

They include Platonov, his wife Sasha, brother-in-law Nikolai Triletsky– a hard-drinking doctor – rich mine-owner Sergei Voynitzev, his glamorous ‘trophy-wife’ Sophia and Sergei’s widowed step-mother, the intelligent and beautiful Anna Petrovna.

In the opening scene the play’s protagonist is conspicuous by his absence, as his friends and family await to celebrate his ‘name day’. Platonov certainly makes an energetic entrance; he practically falls on to the stage from a ladder – drunk.

Handsome, with a cruel wit, Platonov is at a loss and looking for meaning in his “pointless” life, desperately clinging to his family for a sense of purpose. But his loyalty to his religious, steadfast wife and child is tested by three challenging women: the ice-maiden Sophia; the intelligent older woman, Anna and sensitive scientist Maria Grekova.

The first half of the play is intense and electrifying as the audience is caught in a crossfire of witty existential exchanges. Simon Scardfield’s drunken doctor Nikolai is especially good. Jack Laskey’s Platonov makes for a convincing and passionate louche drunk and sarcastic while Marianne Oldham gives a strong performance as the ice-maiden Sophia. Until Saturday, May 4.