Tony Award Winner VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE To Open Gloucester Stage's 45th Season

Gloucester Stage Company has announced the launch of its 45th season, marking nearly half a century of delivering exceptional theatrical experiences to audiences in Gloucester and beyond. To kick off this milestone season, Gloucester Stage will present the Tony Award-winning play VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE by Christopher Durang, directed by Rebecca Bradshawº.

As part of the celebration, Gloucester Stage will pay tribute to one of the most distinguished playwrights in American theater, Christopher Durang, recipient of the 2024 Dramatist Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award, whose illustrious career has left an indelible mark on the world of theater. VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, a comedic masterpiece that has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, will run from May 31 to June 23, captivating audiences with its wit, charm, and hilarity.

"I knew we wanted to launch this season with a big comedy. I've always loved Chekhov and Durang, so this mashup seemed kismet. I fell in love with this play for Durang's ability to use humor to jab at family quibbles while effortlessly leaving us with a deep sense of connection," shared Gloucester Stage's Artistic Director and the production's Director, Rebecca Bradshaw. "Deep down this play asks us to slow down, lift our heads up from our screens, and see each other - a message we need more than ever."

Set against the backdrop of Gloucester Stage's 45-year legacy of excellence, VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE promises to be a highlight of the season. The accomplished cast, including Diego Arciniegas (Vanya), Adrianne Krstansky(Sonia), Wendy Waring (Masha), Jaime José Hernández (Spike), Valyn Lyric Turner (Nina), and Eryn O'Sullivan(Cassandra), brings Durang's vibrant characters to life on stage.

In this uproarious comedy, three adult siblings reunite under one roof, bringing with them a cacophony of opinions, quirks, and desires. Directed by Gloucester Stage's Artistic Director Rebecca Bradshawº, the production navigates the complexities of family dynamics with humor and heart as the trio finds themselves slipping into the petulance of their teenage years amidst a cast of eccentric characters.

Audiences are invited to embark on a journey of laughter, camaraderie, and unforgettable performances with VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE which was awarded the 2013 Tony for Best Play, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New Play.

The set design is by Kristin Loeffler; costumes are by Chelsea Kerl; lighting design is by Anshuman Bhatia; sound design is by Melanie Chen Cole; and prop design is by Emme Shaw.

Tickets

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE will run from Friday, May 31 - Sunday, June 23. All performances, unless noted, are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 pm, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 pm at Gloucester Stage Company located at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester. Tickets are now on sale and available at GloucesterStage.com.

About the Artists:

Christopher Durang (Playwright) was one of our most beloved and widely produced contemporary American Playwrights. He received multiple Obies, a Tony Award nomination, and a Tony win for his work, among many other accolades. Durang was the recipient of the 2012 P.E.N. Master American Dramatist Award and a 2013 inductee to the Theater Hall of Fame. Among his plays: Sister Mary Ignatius, Beyond Therapy, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Laughing Wild, Betty's Summer Vacation, Miss Witherspoon (Pulitzer Finalist), and Why Torture Is Wrong, and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (2013 Tony Award for Best Play, Best Play from the New York Drama Critics Circle, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle, the Drama League Award, and the Off-Broadway Alliance Award), and Turning Off The Morning News. Characterized by a combination of absurdist humor and raging satire, his style influenced an entire generation of writers.

Rebecca Bradshaw º (she/her) (Director) is in her second season as Gloucester Stage's Artistic Director. She built her career in Boston as a theater director, producer, educator, and advocate. Her recent directing credits include The Ding Dongs at Gloucester Stage and Kitchen Theatre Company, Witch at Huntington Theatre Company, Do You Feel Anger? and Hurricane Diane at Kitchen Theatre Company and productions for Lyric Stage, The Nora Theatre Company, SpeakEasy Stage, Greater Boston Stage Company, A.R.T. Institute, Emerson College, Bridge Rep of Boston, Central Square Theatre/M.I.T., Weston Drama Workshop, The Umbrella Center for the Arts, Fresh Ink Theatre, among others. She has taught directing, producing, and casting at Emerson College, Harvard University, Suffolk University, Boston University, Brandeis University, Lesley University, and Boston Conservatory. Bradshaw joined Gloucester Stage in 2023 after acting as the Producing Artistic Director at the Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, NY and having spent eight seasons producing at the Huntington Theatre in Boston. She is a proud member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Diego Arciniegas* (he/him) (Vanya) made his directorial debut at Gloucester Stage with Private Lives and previously appeared on its stage playing La Patumiera in The Primary English Class. Relevant credits include playing Vanya in Uncle Vanya at the Apollinaire Theatre Company, Thom Pain in Thom Pain at the New Repertory Theatre which was directed by Adrianne Krstansky, and directing his own translation of The Seagull at the Publick Theatre, Boston. Diego served as Artistic Director of "The Publick" from 2001 to 2011, producing, performing, and directing plays by Shakespeare, Shaw, Stoppard, and Coward, among others. Diego has held an academic appointment at Wellesley College since 1996, where he still serves as Senior Lecturer in the Theatre Studies Department. His essay, "Retracting Antonio: In Search of the Merchant of Venice," was published in a collection of essays entitled Shakespeare's Sense of Character (Yu Jin Ko, ed.), by Routlage Press.

Adrianne Krstansky* (she/her) (Sonia) is returning to Gloucester Stage, having previously appeared in the theater production "New Electric Ballroom." Her Boston credits include The Art of Burning, Doll's House, Come Back Little Sheba (Eliot Norton Award) at the Huntington Theater; Paradise Lost, Britannicus, Ubu Rock at the American Repertory Theater; People, Places and Things, Every Brilliant Thing (IRNE award), Tribes, Body Awareness and Snakebit at Speakeasy Stage Company. The actor's other credits include roles at Boston Playwrights Theater, Commonwealth Shakespeare, Lyric Theater Company, and New Repertory Theater. Krstansky's regional credits are The Art of Burning at Hartford Stage Company, A Clockwork Orange, Twelfth Night at Steppenwolf Theater, and Tribes at the Kitchen Theater. New York City credits include Atlantic Theater Company, Luck, Pluck and Virtue, Public Theater, 365 Days/365 Plays, with film and television credits including Invitation to aBonfire, Little Women, American Woman, Olive Kitteridge, and Company Men. Adrianne is the Louis, Frances and Jeffrey Sachar Chair of Creative Arts and a Professor of Theater Arts at Brandeis University.

Wendy Waring* (she/her) (Masha) is returning to Gloucester Stage for a third time and home on Cape Ann, having spent the majority of her summers in Rockport, MA. Beyond appearing in six Broadway musicals, retiring her dance shoes after The Producers, numerous TV episodes, commercials, pilots, and award-winning short films, she is a woman of many talents. She has choreographed 75 multiple classic musicals, been an associate director on a new Off-Broadway musical slated to go into production this summer, lent her design and organizing talents to numerous high-profile clients in New York City, and raised two very successful children with her husband on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Jaime José Hernández (he/him) (Spike) made his Gloucester Stage debut last summer in the production Tall Tales From Blackburn Tavern. Other regional stage credits include John Proctor is The Villain at The Huntington, Actors Shakespeare Project's As You Like It; Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream at Commonwealth Shakespeare Company; Moonbox Productions's The House of Ramon Iglesia; Sweat at Gamm Theatre; Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine at Lyric Stage Company of Boston; The Arboretum Experience at The American Repertory Theatre; Hub Theatre Company of Boston's The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Romeo & Juliet at Apollinaire Theatre Company and Vicuña at Zeitgeist Stage Company. His television credits include Power Book II: Ghost (STARZ) and S.W.A.T (CBS). Jaime is a founding member of Teatro Chelsea.

Valyn Lyric Turner* (she/her) (Nina), making her Gloucester Stage debut, regional credits also include John Proctor is the Villain at The Huntington; A Raisin in the Sun at New Repertory Theatre, Diaspora! at New Repertory Theatre, the Actors' Shakespeare Project's Seven Guitars, Boston Playwrights' Theatre's LORENA: A Tabloid Epic, Walking the Tightrope at Wheelock Family Theatre and the educational production: Little Row Boat, or Conjecture at Boston University with her film credits including "Acting Coach Nightmare" on Lifetime Network. Valyn received her BFA in Theatre Arts and BA in Spanish from Boston University.

Eryn O'Sullivan (she/her) (Cassandra), making her Gloucester Stage debut, is an actor from Georgia who got started with her formal training at Boston University's School of Fine Arts. Since then, she has lived in Los Angeles, Asheville, London, and New York City, finally finding her way to Gloucester in early 2021. She has performed in the area at Lanes Cove in Romeo & Juliet, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Macbeth, and will return in July for A Midsummer Night's Dream. Eryn is also a founding member of an all-female theatre and production company, Don, Pat & Tom, based in New York.

ºStage Directors and Choreographers Society (S.D.C.) Union Member
*Actors Equity Association (AEA) Union Member

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl_mkgmk9aw

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