Chekov's Tragicomedy Uncle Vanya from California Shakespeare Theater
Bruns Amphitheater (100 Gateway Blvd. Orinda, CA 94563)
- Full Price:
- $32.00 - $47.00
- Our Price:
- FREE - $23.50*
* Additional fees apply.
All offers for Uncle Vanya have expired.
The last date listed for Uncle Vanya was Saturday August 30, 2008 / 2:00pm.
28 Goldstar Member Reviews
Goldstar Member
This production just didn't seem like Chekhov. To our taste, it was too heavy on comedy, and slighted the tragic element. Also, the actors' styles did not mesh well. Still, an enjoyable evening.Written on Aug 12 2008
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Renee S.
Terrific show....humorous yet sad... great acting all around, very interesting set design, wonderful sound effects and intriguing music, fine costumes. Dress warmly, bring blankets and you'll be in for a very enjoyable evening of Chekov. Advise coming early for the engaging pre-show talk.Written on Aug 07 2008
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Rodney A.
Uncle Vanya is my least favorite of Chekhov's four major plays but this is one of the best productions of the play that I've ever seen. It's not as dark and dreary as most productions.Written on Aug 14 2008
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Goldstar Member
The play takes place in a beautiful outdoor amphitheater in Orinda. (Please note again, it is outdoors and quite cool!) I wore a sweater, jacket, leather jacket and 2 scarves on top of that, and I wrapped myself in 3 blankets, one that I brought and 2 that I got there. Wearing the right clothes will help insure a great experience.Written on Aug 07 2008
If you arrive 45 minutes before show time, they have a talk about Chekhov and the play, which is well worthwhile. Take a picnic and enjoy it while listening to the talk.
About the play--the production is excellent, the set is fantastic, the actors are great, and the music (not live) is wonderful. I can't praise it highly enough.
The whole experience was perfect, from beginning to end.
(By the way, they have plenty of free parking as well as a free shuttle service) from BART.
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More Information About Uncle Vanya
Website
http://www.calshakes.org/v4/ourplays/unclevanya.html
Description
Part comedy, part tragedy, Uncle Vanya shows the downward mobility of the upper class. Serebryakov, a retired professor who can no longer afford to live in the city, moves into his long-abandoned rural home. His presence, and that of his lovely young wife Yelena, inadvertently disrupts the normal order of life for the residents of the household.
Anton Chekov’s major plays were created in Tsarist Russia. Uncle Vanya was published in 1899. This celebrated Russian dramatist’s work foretells such 20th-century theatre innovations as psychological realism and internalization.
Timothy Near (director) has directed a wide variety of works for more than 20 years at San Jose Repertory Theater as artistic director, including the award-winning Major Barbara, Thunder Knocking on the Door, Fire in the Rain…Singer in the Storm, Moonlight and Magnolias and The Seagull, among others. He has earned national acclaim for his work at the Guthrie Theatre, Alliance Theatre Company, Mark Taper Forum, New York Shakespeare Festival, ACT-Seattle, La Jolla Playhouse and Berkeley Repertory.
Emily Mann’s adaptation of Uncle Vanya was first produced at Princeton’s McCarter Theater in 2002. She is in her 19th season as Artistic Director of McCarter Theatre. Under Mann's leadership, McCarter received the 1994 Tony for Outstanding Regional Theater. Her plays include Execution of Justice; Still Life (six Obie Awards); Greensboro (A Requiem); Annulla, An Autobiography; and Mrs. Packard (2007 Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award). Mann wrote and directed Having Our Say, adapted from the book by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth (Tony nominations, Best Director and Play; NAACP Award; Joseph Jefferson Award; Peabody and Christopher Awards for her screenplay).
The title role of Ivan Vanya Voynitsky will be played by Cal Shakes Associate Artist Dan Hiatt. A beloved Bay Area actor, Hiatt appeared in Richard III, Man and Superman and The Triumph of Love during Cal Shakes' 2007 season. Associate Artist James Carpenter, seen last season in Richard III and King Lear, portrays the scholar, Alexander Serebryakov. Sarah Grace Wilson, last seen as Desdemona in Cal Shakes’ 2004 production of Othello, plays Yelena.
About the Ticket Supplier: California Shakespeare Theater
The California Shakespeare Theater is committed to being a leading community citizen by nourishing the imaginations of audiences, artists and learners of all ages. We are dedicated to creating boldly imagined and deeply entertaining interpretations of Shakespeare's plays, fresh rediscoveries of important works of World Theater, and new works inspired by classic literature. Through our Artistic Learning programs, we are devoted to providing meaningful and accessible educational opportunities to a diversity of learners throughout the Greater Bay Area.