Weston Playhouse Theatre Company's 'VANYA AND SONIA' Begins 7/17

The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company lands another coup, bringing the 2013 Tony Award Winner for Best Play, Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, to area audiences beginning July 17. Dubbed "deliriously funny" by the New York Times, the comedy is becoming the most-produced play across the country following its celebrated Broadway run.

Producing Artistic Director Steve Stettler directs Weston and Broadway veterans David Bonanno, Amelia White and Susan Haefner as three middle-aged siblings who grapple with their lives and relationships over a weekend in the country. Deonna Bouye, Brandon Drea and Haley Bond round out the stellar cast as a soothsaying cleaning woman, a sexy boy toy, and a starstuck ingénue. Designer Howard C. Jones has created the eccentric Pennsylvania farmhouse in which the antics take place, with lighting by Ann G. Wrightson, costumes by Kirche Zeile and sound by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen.

"I fell in love with this play the minute I saw it," says Stettler. "It mixes the wacky but lovable ensemble of the great Kaufman and Hart comedies with the wit of a Noel Coward or an Oscar Wilde." Inspired by the plays of Anton Chekhov, author Durang is quick to note that Vanya and Sonia... is not a parody but its own unique comic romp. While looking at the need for purpose and connection at any stage of life, the playwright skewers everything from the internet to real estate to Hollywood spin-offs in his clever attack on modern society.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike plays a limited run July 17 to 26 at the Weston Playhouse, on the Village Green (12 Park Street) in Weston. Show times are Tuesdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2pm, and Sundays at 3pm. The show runs 2 hours, thirty minutes with one intermission. Pre-show dinner is available at the theatre's own restaurant, the Café at the Falls. Post-show antics are well-worth the $12 price of admission at the post-show cabaret, Yankee Magazine's 2014 Editor's Choice for "Best Place for a Nightcap." Tickets to the show start at $25 and can be purchased by calling 802-824-5288 or online at westonplayhouse.org.

The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company is an award-winning nonprofit theatre nationally known for its multi-stage summer season, education and new works programs. A $10 million capital campaign is currently underway, with plans to build a year-round cultural center for Southern Vermont - a theatre arts incubator with retreats, workshops and a new studio theatre at Weston's Walker Farm.

Photo by Tim Fort