David Hyde Pierce, Sigourney Weaver and More Lead Lincoln Center's VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, Opening Tonight, 11/12

Lincoln Center Theater welcomes Genevieve Angelson, Shalita Grant, Billy Magnussen, Kristine Nielsen, David Hyde Pierce and Sigourney Weaver in the New York premiere of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, a new play by Christopher Durang, to be directed by Nicholas Martin, which began performances Thursday, October 25 and opens tonight, November 12 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE is produced by Lincoln Center Theater in association with the McCarter Theatre, where it was commissioned and ran from September 7 through October 7, prior to beginning performances in New York.

In Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike playwright Christopher Durang takes characters and themes from Chekhov, pours them into a blender and mixes them up; the result is his latest play set in present day Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Vanya (David Hyde Pierce) and his stepsister Sonia (Kristine Nielsen) have lived their entire lives in their family’s farmhouse. While they stayed home to take care of their ailing parents, their sister Masha (Sigourney Weaver) has been gallivanting around the world as a successful actress and movie star, leaving Vanya and Sonia to feel trapped and regretful. Their soothsayer/cleaning woman Cassandra (Shalita Grant) keeps warning them about terrible things in the future, which include a sudden visit from Masha and her twenty-something boy toy Spike (Billy Magnussen).

Christopher Durang’s plays include A History of the American Film (Tony nomination), Sister Mary Explains It All For You (Obie Award), Beyond Therapy, Baby With The Bathwater, The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Obie Award and Guild Hull Warriner Award), Sex and Longing (produced by LCT), Laughing Wild, Betty’s Summer Vacation (Obie Award), Miss Witherspoon (2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist) and, most recently Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them.

Nicholas Martin’s LCT credits include Saturn Returns, The New Century, Observe The Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, The Time of the Cuckoo and Chaucer in Rome. He ‘s collaborated with Christopher Durang on Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them and Betty’s Summer Vacation (Obie Award and Drama Desk nomination). His other Broadway and off-Broadway credits include Butley, Match, Hedda Gabler, You Never Can Tell, The Rehearsal, Fully Committed, Full Gallop and Sophistry.

In addition to its on-going, open-ended run of the Tony Award winning production of War Horse, LCT is currently presenting Amy Herzog’s 4000 Miles, directed by Daniel Aukin in the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater and the LCT3 production of Greg Pierce’s Slowgirl, directed by Anne Kauffman, in the newly opened Claire Tow Theater, on the roof of the Beaumont. Next fall, LCT will also be producing the 75th Anniversary production of the Clifford Odets’ classic Golden Boy, directed by Bartlett Sher, beginning performances Thursday, November 8 at a Broadway theater to be announced and the LCT3 production of Disgraced, a new play by Ayad Akhtar, directed by Kimberly Senior, beginning performances Monday, October 8 at the Claire Tow Theater.

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