Andrew Scott is hot. Let’s rephrase that, he is ‘hot’ right now, in the showbiz sense that he is getting lots of work and good notices. He might have come to the attention of audiences a few years back as the Hot Priest (there’s that word again) in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s groundbreaking TV series Fleabag. Much more recently, he was in the haunting, surprise hit All of Us Strangers from writer/director Andrew Haigh. Film work notwithstanding, Scott is a stage actor, as he proves to the nth degree in this remarkable solo performance staged originally in London for the National Theatre. NT Live as it is known, is the filming of the stage performance.

It is rather an odd piece in some ways, a take on the play Uncle Vanya by 19th Century Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Chekhov (The Seagull, the Three Sisters, Uncle Vanya) is mostly known for his cool and yet sympathetic dissection of middle class angst. His world is one where the leisured classes have their lives supported by servants and mooch around complaining. The servants are mostly long-suffering because they have to put up with their impossible and demanding masters.

There is humour in that dynamic. Often the action is set – as here – in a large country ‘Summer house’ that the family retires to when the Muscovite winters become harsh. They then spend long languorous days fretting about how they are burdened with trying to make sense of their privileged lives. That is to reduce Chekhov to a formula which sells him short. What makes him great is that he wants us to see the absurdity of their ‘struggles’ without judging. This cannot fail but strike a chord in all of us who mistake ennui for genuine hardship.

In this bold experiment, Scott commands the stage for the entire running time, and he plays every character. If that sounds itself absurd, the amazing thing is that he completely convinces us that there are all these characters on stage and that ‘they’ are talking to each other. Sometimes, it is aided by the contrivance of coming through a door as another character (in the vast plain but functional set that represents the main room in the house). Sometimes, he affects a different voice or conveys the person he is inhabiting by some telling mannerisms, but mostly, he just lets the sparkling Chekhovian dialogue speak for itself. He not only takes us through all the phases of these characters but draws us into their moments of triumph or (often) sadness, in a way that is more affecting than you could reasonably expect.

The phrase tour de force is sometimes overused, but it is certainly appropriate here. It is a remarkable feat. This is one performance that will be remembered for a very long time. Hot tip, try and catch it.

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