Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House
January 22, 2015

In an ancient music room, an incessant ticking marks the passing of time. A concert is imminent (or are we at the fag-end of a performance of Ligeti’s Poème Symphonique For 100 Metronomes?) But what’s this strange old man doing with his bag of leeks? Who is he? What’s he here for? These are the questions director Denis Podalydès invites us to ask and attempts to answer in this curiously enchanting and ultimately moving treatment of a rare Russian short by the master of melancholy, Anton Chekhov.

On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco was written in 1886 but only appeared in English in 1954. It’s a typically Chekhovian piece where farce rubs shoulders with sadness and regret, and as conceived by violinist Floriane Bonanini, very much a dance to the music of time since the addition of a trio of instrumentalists punctuates the subtext in an intriguing and illuminating way. The handsome production (costumes by Lacroix, darling) hails from Paris’ Théatre des Bouffes du Nord and is given in French with surtitles.

At its heart is the aforementioned elderly enigma. As the only character to speak, the 84-year-old French actor Michel Robin is utterly...