PlayMakers Repertory Company opens Mainstage Season with VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE

PlayMakers Repertory Company kicks off its new Mainstage Season Sept. 17-Oct. 5 with the Tony Award-winning comedy "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" by Christopher Durang. PlayMakers is the professional theater in residence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Special events associated with the show begin Sept. 10.

"Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" enjoyed acclaimed Broadway and Off-Broadway runs and garnered numerous honors including the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play and the New York Drama Critic's Circle Award for Best Play.

Playwright Durang has crafted a show for theater-lovers. Borrowing from the works of Russian master Anton Chehkov, including character names and other references to his great dramas, the comedy "makes heartache into fodder for belly laughs," according to The New York Times. PlayMakers calls the show "one part Chekhov, plus a heaping portion of hilarity with a dash of misery. Mix with pop culture and shake furiously with laughter for a side-splitting good time!"

Performances will be in the Paul Green Theatre in UNC's Department of Dramatic Art on Country Club Road. Show times will be 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and Sunday, Oct. 5; 2 p.m. Sundays and Saturday, Sept. 27. There are no performances Saturday, Oct. 4.

The production is directed by Libby Appel, Artistic Director Emerita of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Appel helmed PlayMakers' production of "The Glass Menagerie" (2009). She has directed all of Chekhov's plays and recently completed new translations of "Ivanov," "The Seagull," "Uncle Vanya," "Three Sisters" and "The Cherry Orchard" for the book "Five Chekhov Plays."

In conjunction with "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike," PlayMakers will host "The Vision Series-Directors in Conversation," a behind-the-scenes preview with Appel, Sept. 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the Paul Green Theatre. The event is free and open to the public. Participants share coffee and hors d'oeuvres provided by series sponsor Jujube Restaurant, learn about the vision for the show and get a sneak peek at the sets and costumes in progress. Reservations are appreciated.

For a complete schedule, more information and to purchase tickets, call PlayMakers' box office at (919) 962-PLAY (7529) or visit www.playmakersrep.org. Individual ticket prices start at $15. Tickets are also available as part of PlayMakers' 2014-2015 subscription packages.

During the 2014-2015 Mainstage Season, PlayMakers will also present Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning musical "Into the Woods" with "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare (performed in rotating repertory Nov. 1-Dec. 7); "Trouble in Mind" (Jan. 21-Feb.8); "An Enemy of the People" (Feb. 25-March 15); and "4000 Miles" (April 1-19).

PlayMakers, based in UNC's College of Arts and Sciences, has been named by The Drama League as one of the "best regional theatre companies in America."

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