Jessica Stone to Direct The Old Globe's VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, 5/17-6/22

The Old Globe today announced the creative team of Christopher Durang's Tony Award-winning farce Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, which will be directed by Jessica Stone. Stone, who is a frequent collaborator with Old Globe Associate Artist Nicholas Martin, will base this production on his Tony-nominated Broadway direction. Martin had been previously announced to return to San Diego to direct but had to withdraw due to scheduling conflicts. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will run May 17 - June 22, 2014 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run May 17 - 21. Opening night is May 22 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by subscription only. Single tickets are scheduled to go on sale on Friday, April 4 at 12 noon and will be available online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

In the funniest new American play of the year, award-winning playwright Christopher Durang (Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You) melds Chekhov with his own offbeat and hilarious sensibility to create what Newsday calls "one of the funniest comedies Broadway has seen in seasons." Your heart has to go out to three siblings whose artsy parents named them after characters from Chekhov. Vanya and Sonia have lived at home while sister Masha has travelled the world starring in B-movies. Now Masha is back, with her boy toy Spike in tow, and she's intent on selling the house. Farce ensues.

"I'm really looking forward to having Christopher Durang's Tony-winning play on our stage, and to hearing the gales of laughter that I know will rock our roof," said Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "While I'm disappointed that our beloved Associate Artist Nicholas Martin will not be able to join us, I'm grateful that his original direction will be placed in the more than capable hands of Jessica Stone. In addition to being a longtime associate and close confidante to Nicky, she is a gifted director in her own right and an uncommonly brilliant comedienne. I know she and her wonderful collaborators will grace the Globe with a memorable production."

The creative team includes David Korins (Scenic Design), Gabriel Berry (Costume Design), David Weiner (Lighting Design), Mark Bennett (Sound Design), and Annette Yé (Stage Manager).

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is supported in part through gifts from California Bank & Trust.

Christopher Durang's (Playwright) plays include Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (which recently played on Broadway and won the Tony Award for Best Play), The Idiots Karamazov, co-authored with Albert Innaurato, A History of the American Film (Tony Award nomination), Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You (Obie Award), Beyond Therapy (on and Off Broadway), Baby with the Bathwater, The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Obies for Playwriting, Direction for Jerry Zaks and Ensemble Performance, Dramatists Guild of America's Hull-Warriner Award), Laughing Wild, For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls, Betty's Summer Vacation (Obies for Playwriting, Direction for Nicholas Martin and Performance for Kristine Nielsen), Miss Witherspoon (2006 Pulitzer Prize finalist) and Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them. His cabaret credits include Das Lusitania Songspiel, co-authored and performed by Sigourney Weaver and Durang (Drama Desk Award nominations for both performers) and Chris Durang & Dawne (Bistro Award for Durang and cohorts John Augustine and Sherry Anderson). He has won the Harvard Arts Medal and the PEN/Laura Pels Award for a Master American Dramatist, and he was recently inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. For 18 years he and Marsha Norman have been co-chairs of The Juilliard School's Playwriting Program. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council.

Jessica Stone (Director) has worked as an actress on and Off Broadway, and in television and film, for the last 20 years. Her Broadway credits include Anything Goes with Sutton Foster, Butley with Nathan Lane, The Odd Couple with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, The Smell of the Kill with Claudia Shear, Design for Living with Alan Cumming and Dominic West, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying with John Stamos, and Grease with Rosie O'Donnell. Her Off Broadway credits include Crimes of the Heart directed by Kathleen Turner, Krisit, The Country Club, June Moon, Tenderloin, and Babes in Arms. She has performed in regional theatres across the country including Huntington Theatre Company, Mark Taper Forum, Geva Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, and six seasons at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Her favorite productions include She Stoops to Conquer, She Loves Me, Springtime for Henry, Betty's Summer Vacation, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Cherry Orchard. Concurrently, she was an assistant/associate director on and Off Broadway to Nicholas Martin, Joe Mantello, David Warren, and Christopher Ashley. Stone's directing career began in earnest with her 2010 production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum for the Williamstown Theater Festival's Main Stage, which was met with critical acclaim. Her directing credits now include Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers (Williamstown) and Charlotte's Web (TheatreworksUSA). Her workshops and readings include Huntington Theatre Company's Breaking Ground Festival, Hourglass Group Ltd.'s Hot Buttons: A Political Vaudeville, and collaborations with artists such as Joy Behar and Claudia Shear. Stone's upcoming productions include Kaufman and Lardner's June Moon for Williamstown (2014). She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons.

TICKETS to Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Performances begin on May 17 and continue through June 22. Ticket prices start at $29. Performance times: Previews: Saturday, May 17 at 8:00 p.m., Sunday, May 18 at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 20 at 7:00 p.m., and Wednesday, May 21 at 7:00 p.m. Regular performances: Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. There is a 2:00 p.m. matinee on Wednesday, June 11 and no matinee performance on Saturday, June 14. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors, military, and groups of 10 or more.

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