“A laugh-out-loud funny production performed by a first-rate
cast.” — Bev Sykes, Davis Enterprise
Winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play, Vanya
and Sonia and Masha and Spike, is master of
comedy Christopher Durang at his best. This wildly
funny concoction, which blends characters and themes
from Chekhov, centers on the reunion of a glamorous film
star of a certain age with her two middle-aged siblings at the
family homestead in present-day Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Vanya and his stepsister Sonia have lived their entire lives in
their family’s farmhouse. While they stayed home to take care of
their ailing parents, their sister Masha has been gallivanting
around the world as a successful actress and movie star, leaving
Vanya and Sonia to feel trapped and regretful. Their
soothsayer/cleaning woman Cassandra keeps warning them about
terrible things in the future, which include a sudden visit from
Masha and her twenty-something boy toy Spike.
“Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is Christopher
Durang’s wickedly funny play about family, regret, hope and the
choices we make in life,” said director Mindy Cooper, Granada
Artist-in-Residence for winter 2017. “It’s a riveting farce that
tosses Chekhov characters and themes and unexpected wild cards
into a blender and pushes the froth button. Anyone familiar with
Anton Chekhov’s plays will adore how the writing riffs on those
plays, but you don’t need to know his plays to adore this one.
You just have to have a sense of humor and
two hours. Come see VSMS to laugh and to
realize that maybe your family is sane compared to this one!”
There will post-discussion talk backs on Feb. 23 and Mar.
2.
“Deliriously funny…a heedless good time.” — The New York
Times
“Hugely entertaining….In its own deliciously madcap way, the new
work offers some keen insights into the challenges and agonies of
twenty-first-century life.” — USA Today
General audience tickets are $18.50, faculty/staff tickets are
$17 and students/seniors tickets are $12. Tickets may be
purchased at the UC Davis ticket office, located on the north
side of Aggie Stadium, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday,
or by phone (530) 752-2471 during the same hours. Tickets are
available online at the UC Davis Athletic Ticket Office.
Here are publicity photographs and set model for the
upcoming production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and
Spike. The Tony Award-winning comedy plays the Main
Theatre, Wright Hall, Feb. 23-25 and Mar. 2-4, Thursday
through Saturday at 7 p.m. with 2 p.m. matinees on Feb. 25 and
Mar. 4.
Publicity photos by Huan Yu, copyright UC Davis, Set model
photo by John Iacovelli, copyright UC Davis
Mindy Cooper has directed, choreographed, and performed on
Broadway and Off-Broadway in Chicago - The
Musical (original revival), Titanic (original
cast), Dracula – The Musical, 50 Shades – The Musical Parody,
Mars/Venus Live, The Eternal Space, Soul Doctor, Wrong Mountain,
Five Course Love, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Song &
Dance, and Tenderloin, as well as TV’s Law &
Order: Criminal Intent.