Placer Rep Artistic Director Steps into Voynitskaya Role for UNCLE VANYA

Due to a sudden cast-member schedule conflict, Placer Repertory Theater Producing Artistic Director, Teresa Stirling Forsyth, steps into the role of MME Voynitskaya, mother of the title character in Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya: Scenes from a Country Life, presented publicly September 8 and 9 as the Placer Rep 2023-2024 season opener, which includes love triangles, dysfunctional family strife, a mid-life crisis and too much vodka, to mix the perfect tragicomic cocktail. 

While Teresa Stirling Forsyth’s artistic career predominantly features directing and playwriting, her first experiences in professional theater were as a performer “too many years ago to mention; I had a pet mammoth,” joked Tess, as she is known to her friends and colleagues. She began acting and legitimate voice/opera training at a young age, which led to a show tour of seven European countries as part of a singing/dancing troupe. She later performed in regional tours, which led to the opportunity to tour throughout Japan with The Western Stage Company’s production of the musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Tess also acted on camera in independent films, as well as in local and regional commercials, and performed voice-overs for commercials, multimedia, and software companies. “I retired my headshot and dancing shoes years ago to be gratefully consigned to the dark recesses of the audience as a director, playwright and producer,” Tess smirked. Her training includes an MFA in Dramatic Arts and an MS Business degree in Management & Leadership, “and a lifetime of engagement with people and classes and educational materials from a wide variety of sources on a vast array of topics – I absolutely love to learn,” Tess shared passionately.  

Teresa Stirling Forsyth as MME Voynitskaya is joined by cast-members Carol Anne Lopez as Marina, Ronnie Duska Fowler as Yelena, Cloud Adams as Professor Serebryakov, guest musician/actor Craig Dunlap as Telegin (Waffles), Arie Knyazev as Dr. Astrov, Kyla Quinn as Sonia and Matthew D. Heyer as Uncle Vanya. Most of the cast participate in Studium-Practicum, Placer Rep’s professional growth program and have training and professional experience. For example, Kyla Quinn (BA) worked for Lifetime and Asylum Studios film/tv production companies, and Cloud Adams (BA) & Matthew D. Heyer (BFA) both have professional film acting credits.

Placer Repertory Theater’s production of Uncle Vanya is a script-in-hand performance for ONE WEEK ONLY in Rocklin California on September 8 and 9, after which Placer Rep’s Uncle Vanya is available for bookings throughout the region by contacting boxoffice@placerrep.org. Placer Rep turns the Rocklin Parkview Event Room into a black-box and includes costume pieces and select furnishings to bring this play to life.  The show, full of humor and pathos, is punctuated by brief interludes of Eastern European folk music played live by Craig Dunlap, a regional musician/singer/songwriter. There will also be drawings for gift baskets full of prizes donated by local businesses. More information regarding the September 8 & 9 showings is found at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/placer-rep-presents-uncle-vanya-tickets-694205315787.

“Huge thanks belong to the City of Rocklin and its Parks & Recreation department, who sponsored the performance venue,” said Placer Rep company member Matthew D. Heyer, “and where would we be without our friend and partner, Tamie Rogers of Tamraloo Studios, phenomenal music, dance and theater training in Lincoln, who provides us with Studio E in Lincoln as the home for the Placer Rep Studium-Practicum professional growth program. And of course, huge thanks to all our wonderful supporters, including our donors and sponsors, who we’re looking forward to promoting in the near future!” For more information on the September 8 & 9 performances, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/placer-rep-presents-uncle-vanya-tickets-694205315787.

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