WCXX

One man, however, has particular cause to worry about the arrival. Kuzovkin (Iain Glen) has been living in the great house for 30 years, one of those impoverished hangers-on so commonly found in Chekhov. In the opening scene we see that he is reduced to sleeping on the top shelf of the linen cupboard, from which he descends with both agility and surprising dignity.

Although he claims Olga Petrovna loves him, his future seems scarily precarious. He may be a gentleman but he is penniless, having spent all his money on a never-ending court case. But things seem to be going well.

The new master invites him to an all-male luncheon and seems a decent chap. But then his nemesis arrives. At first Richard McCabe, who plays a neighbouring landowner, Tropatchov, merely seems an absurd fop, with his babble of slanderous gossip, corrupt face and epicene manner.

But McCabe, once a brilliant Iago, leaves no doubt that we are in the presence of a character of vicious malignity. Chortling merrily, he takes odious pleasure in humiliating Kuzovkin and getting him drunk with endless toasts. Goaded beyond endurance, this baited bear of a man roars out the one great secret of his life – a secret that seems certain to destroy both his own happiness and those of others about him.

It's an electrifying scene, at once funny and almost too painful to watch, and the double act between the slimy McCabe and the tormented, drink-befuddled Glen is some of the most exciting acting I have seen on stage this year.

The second half is just as fine, less explosively theatrical to be sure, but instead full of deeper feeling, satisfying plotting and a lovely moment of honesty and tenderness between Glen and the confused young mistress of the house (a touching Lucy Briggs-Owen). William Dudley's designs are sumptuous and atmospheric, and Bailey's production beautifully captures the play's rich variety of mood and tone.

It is great to find the Old Vic back at the top of its game.

Until Feb 22. Tickets: 0844 871 7628; oldvictheatre.com