BCAP & BPT to Present UNCLE JACK, 2/12-3/1

Boston Center for American Performance (BCAP) and Boston Playwrights' Theatre (BPT) today announce their co-production of the comedy Uncle Jack, a Boston University New Play Initiative play written by Michael Hammond.

In this modern-day retelling of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya - which Hammond will also direct - Uncle Jack, his niece Sonya, and his British brother-in-law Derek struggle to save their small summer theatre company in the Berkshires...and the company's looming demise causes old wounds to bleed afresh. The production will run from February 12 to March 1. Press night is February 14.

"BCAP is continuing to embrace collaborative producing opportunities with fellow Boston region theatres," BCAP Artistic Director and Director of the BU School of Theatre Jim Petosa says. "Collaborations with New Repertory Theatre and Boston Playwrights' Theatre make it possible to bring new and challenging work to the stage. We celebrate the development of these collaborations and look forward to the possibilities they unleash."

"It's a pleasure to collaborate with BCAP, Jim, and his fine team of artists," BPT Artistic Director Kate Snodgrass says. "Plus, we've had the honor of working with Michael [Hammond] over the years as a director [Joyce Van Dyke's A Girl's War, and Melinda Lopez's Scenes from a Bordello] and as an actor [Mortal Terror by Robert Brustein]. There a wonderful trust that's established already with the cast and crew that's going to play itself out onstage."

Playwright Hammond is a member of the Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre faculty, and Uncle Jack is his first full-length play. As an actor, Hammond is familiar to audiences for his work with the Huntington Theatre Company, Shakespeare & Company, Portland Stage Company, and on Broadway.

Hammond began work on the play five years ago, after "my career took the sort of long and agonizing turn that left me feeling very foolish," he says. "In fact, the refrain, 'You stupid fool! You stupid, stupid fool!' kept playing in my head, and sometimes, I couldn't help speaking the phrase aloud. After a few weeks of playing this tune, I became aware of the urge to revisit Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. I was astonished to see that Vanya concludes one of his monologues with the same refrain: 'You stupid, stupid fool!' No wonder I wanted to read the play again. I had to take this all as I sign that I was meant to work on the play in some fashion, and quickly determined that I would adapt it to my 'here and now.'"

BCAP and BPT last collaborated on the 2011 production of Jon Lipsky's Walking the Volcano.