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Pasadena Playhouse presents the Los Angeles premiere of the Richard Nelson, Richard Pevear, and Larissa Volokhonsky translation of Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov now through June 26, 2002.
The production stars Hugo Armstrong (Power of Sail at Geffen Playhouse) as “Vanya,” Anne Gee Byrd as “Marya,” Brian George as “Serebryakov,” Brandon Mendez Homeras as “Astrov,” Jane Taini as “Marina, Sabina Zuniga-Varela as “Sonya” and Chelsea Yakura-Kurtz as “Elena.”
The creative team features direction by Michael Michetti; scenic design by Tesshi Nakagawa; costume design by Wendell C. Carmichael; lighting design by Jaymi Smith; sound design by John Nobori; and stage management by Meredith O’Gwynn.
This exhilarating revival pairs one of the greatest plays ever written with the world’s most celebrated translators of Russian literature. After years of caring for their family’s crumbling estate, Vanya and his niece receive an unexpected visit from his brother-in-law and his alluring wife. When hidden passions and tumultuous frustrations come to a boil in the heat of the summer, their lives threaten to come undone. Comic, cutting, and true to life, this translation of Uncle Vanya provides an up-close, conversational-style encounter with a classic drama that every theater-lover must see.
Richard Nelson, in writing of his collaboration with Pevear, and Volokhonsky, told The New York Times, “As we worked together, I, as both a playwright and director, was always thinking toward production, imagining the questions that would be asked by actors and designers, and trying to make sure we were asking them as we translated. We decided to come together once a year and translate a play, and found a publisher, TCG books, for the series. We began to get commissioned by theaters and eventually turned to the Everest of our ambitions: the major plays of Anton Chekhov.”
Widely considered one of the world’s greatest writers, Anton Chekhov was born on January 29, 1860, in Taganrog, Russia. In 1879 he entered the University of Moscow to study medicine and graduated in 1884. He kept a strict writing schedule and continued to practice medicine for the rest of his life. In addition to his numerous short stories, many considered masterpieces of the form, Chekhov wrote over a dozen plays, among them the classics of Western dramatic literature Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard, The Three Sisters, and The Seagull.
Tickets starting at $30 and are available at pasadenaplayhouse.org by phone at 626-356-7529, and at the box office at 39 South El Molino Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101.
