Mad Cow Theatre Presents Chekhov's THREE SISTERS

Mad Cow Theatre is delighted to announce its upcoming production of Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters, a lyrical Russian masterwork adapted by Libby Appel, which will take the Harriett stage March 24, 2017 as the sixth production of Mad Cow Theatre's Season 20.

Mad Cow has sustained a long-term love affair with the works of Chekhov, whose plays have proven foundational in creating the theatre's ensemble-centered rehearsal process, honed in prior productions of The Cherry Orchard (2000) and The Seagull (2007).

Libby Appel is currently the Artistic Director Emerita of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She was the artistic director of OSF from 1995 through 2007 where she directed 30 plays. She has recently completed five new translations of Chekhov's plays along with Russian to English translator, Allison Horsley. The translations are now available in a new book, "Five Chekhov Plays", which include Ivanov, Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard.

"To Moscow! To Moscow!" Nostalgic yearning for lively yesteryears preoccupy the Prezorov sisters-Masha, Irina, and Olga-as time marches on in their provincial 19th century rural Russian town-far from the Moscow of their memory. In Three Sisters, one of the greatest masterworks of dramatic literature, Anton Chekhov paints a lyrical portrait of missed opportunities, delicate delusions, and the persistence of life despite disappointments. Blurring the line between comedy and drama while emphasizing emotional life over plot, Chekhov reveals the enduring music of humanity's hopes and fears in the eternal struggle to work, to love, to hope, and-most of all-to live.

Mad Cow Theatre's executive director MiTzi Maxwell said, "It always feel like a homecoming to have a Chekhov play on our stage. When he wrote the plays for Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theatre at the beginning of the last century, he developed the minutiae of each character. Be they blinded by ambition or love, on the verge of great wisdom or perfect foolishness--a fully realized human being occupies each character and motivates each gesture. This is central to the way we like to work at Mad Cow--with detail in the performance and honoring every word."

Director Mark Edward Smith (1776, Long Day's Journey into Night, Art) returns to Mad Cow to helm Three Sisters. Scenery is being designed by Rob Wolin and audio will be designed by Kevin Becker.

The cast includes Melissa Whitworth (1776, It Was a Very Good Year), Rachel Comeau, Hannah Benitez (James Joyce's The Dead), Mike Carr (Pygmalion), Brian Brightman* (The God Game, Philadelphia Story, My Name is Asher Lev), Adam Reilly (Long Day's Journey into Night, The History Boys, Clybourne Park), Julie Snyder (Pygmalion, Long Day's Journey into Night), John Hamilton Rice (Philadelphia Story, You Can't Take It with You, Secret Garden), Matthew Faison*, Charlie Wright (You Can't Take It with You), Shami McCormick* (The Big Meal, Pygmalion), Joshua Melendez, and Matthew Lipscomb (The History Boys).

*Member of the Actors' Equity Association.
Previous work with Mad Cow in parentheses.

Regular tickets are $40. Preview tickets are $15. Pay What You Wish advance tickets are $18. Tickets are available online at madcowtheatre.com or by calling the Mad Cow Theatre box office at 407-297-8788 ext. 1.

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