Photo Flash: UNCLE VANYA At Deep Dish

The play takes place in the waning days of 19th Century Russia, as the celebrated professor Serebryakov (Tom Marriott) returns to his rural estate with his young wife Yelena (Anne-Caitlin Donohue). Their arrival throws the household into upheaval, disrupting the quiet lives of the professor's daughter Sonya (Page Purgar), her uncle Vanya (Mark Filiaci), the local country doctor Astrov (David Berberian) and the estate's other occupants. Like all of Chekhov's plays, Uncle Vanya paints a portrait of a discontented aristocracy watching their traditions slip away, yet seeing no clear future.

"This is an astonishingly contemporary 110-year-old play," says director Paul Frellick. "Apart from the timeless themes of frustrated ambition and illicit passion, Chekhov's characters are very outspoken about the subjugation of women, financial hardships, and most poignantly, the destruction of the environment, which is every bit as divisive an issue for them as it is today."

The cast for Uncle Vanya includes a number of actors very familiar with the Deep Dish stage. Tom Marriott appeared in the first Deep Dish production, Endgame, and Mark Filiaci was in the second, Cat's-Paw. David Berberian, Anne-Caitlin Donohue, and Page Purgar are all veterans of previous productions at the University Mall theater, as are Thom Gradisher (Telegin) and Sharlene Thomas (Marina); newcomers Adair Wiess (Mrs. Voinitsky) and Vishal Bernal (Yefim) round out the cast.

The design team for Uncle Vanya includes Christa Devitt (sets), Sue Sweezy (costumes), Liz Grimes-Droessler (lights), Robin Hughes (props), and Jennifer Bauer (stage manager). Kit Wienert is composing music and designing sound for the production. The designers will participate in a post-show discussion on Sunday, February 22.

Deep Dish dramaturg Karen C. Blansfield will introduce theater-goers to the world of the play before the show on Friday, February 27, at 7 PM in the theater lobby. UNC professor and Chekhov scholar Radislav Lapushin will lead a discussion after the performance on March 1, and Evelyn Daniel will lead the Deep Dish Book Club discussion of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth on Thursday, March 12 at 6:30 PM.

Deep Dish is located in Chapel Hill's University Mall, on Estes Drive and US 15-501. Ticket prices and showtimes are: Wednesday and Thursday (7:30 p.m. curtain) - $16 adults, $14 seniors, $12 students; and Friday-Sunday (8:00 p.m. curtain on Friday and Saturday, 2:00 p.m. Sunday matinee) - $18 adults, $16 seniors, $14 students.

The Deep Dish box office in University Mall is open Wednesday-Saturday from 3 to 6 p.m. Tickets can also be ordered by visiting www.deepdishtheater.org or by calling 919/968-1515.

For more information, call (919) 968-1515 or visit the Deep Dish website at www.deepdishtheater.org.

Photos by Sheldon T. Becker