Grand Horizons - Poster

Made Possible in Part by:

MARLA & CLIFFORD ROBINSON FAMILY FUND

TONY Award Winner Best Play 2013

VANYA AND SONIA
AND MASHA AND SPIKE

by Christopher Durang

Directed by REBECCA BRADSHAWº

Adult siblings Vanya and Sonia share their parents summer home, where they bicker about the circumstances of their lives spent looking out over the pond. Their movie-star sister, Masha, swoops in with her new boy toy, Spike, and old resentments flare up – leading to threats of selling the house. A comedic masterpiece filled with eccentric characters, unexpected romances, and hilarious twists – all while paying homage to the works of Chekhov.

2024 Dramatist Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Christopher Durang opens the 45th Anniversary Season with this indomitable comedy, directed by Artistic Director Rebecca Bradshawº. Running from May 31 to June 23, all performances are at Gloucester Stage’s Theater 267 East Main Street, Gloucester. Showtimes are Wednesdays & Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00pm, and matinees Saturdays & Sundays at 3:00pm.

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Made Possible in Part by:

MAY 31 – JUNE 23

Grand Horizons - Calendar

Performances

7:30 pm, WED + THU
8:00 pm, FRI + SAT
3:00 pm, SAT + SUN

Preview Performances

May 31 + June 1 @ 8:00 pm

Champagne Opening

Sunday, June 2

Talk Backs

June 9 + 16

Critical Praise for Gloucester Stage’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

[This Play] is accessible and entertaining and witty and often absurd”

The Cricket

Erika Brown

“if last Sunday’s whooping, hollering standing ovation is anything to go by, the audience loved it”

Gloucester Daily Times

Joann Mackenzie

“in the midst of Durang’s brilliant and often biting humor, was a heart full of hope.”

The Boston Globe

Terry Byrne

Plenty of laughs to be had in this very funny work.

Theater Mirror

Mike Hoban

“As the siblings, Arciniegas, Krstansky, and Waring embody Durang’s humane lunacy with admirable skill”

The Arts Fuse

David Greenham

“Unforgettable characters and brilliant comedic performances, this is the funniest show in town.”

Boston Critic's Association

Christopher Ehlers

Trailers and Behind the Scenes videos for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Meet the Creative Team

Bess Wohl - headshot

Christopher Durang / Playwright

Christopher Durang is one of our most beloved and widely produced contemporary American playwrights. He has received multiple Obies, a Tony Award nomination, and a Tony win for his work, among many other accolades. Durang is the recipient of the 2012 PEN Master American Dramatist Award and is a 2013 inductee to the Theater Hall of Fame. Among his plays: Sister Mary Ignatius, Beyond Therapy, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Laughing Wild, Betty’s Summer Vacation, Miss Witherspoon (Pulitzer Finalist), and Why Torture Is Wrong, and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (2013 Tony Award for Best Play, Best Play from the New York Drama Critics Circle, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle, the Drama League Award, and the Off-Broadway Alliance Award), and Turning Off The Morning News. Characterized by a combination of absurdist humor and raging satire, his style has influenced an entire generation of writers.

Robert Walsh - headshot

Rebecca Bradshawº / Director

Rebecca Bradshaw is in her second season as Gloucester Stage’s Artistic Director. She built her career in Boston as a theater director, producer, educator, and advocate. Her recent directing credits include The Ding Dongs at Gloucester Stage and Kitchen Theatre Company, Witch at Huntington Theatre Company, Do You Feel Anger? and Hurricane Diane at Kitchen Theatre Company and productions for Lyric Stage, The Nora Theatre Company, SpeakEasy Stage, Greater Boston Stage Company, A.R.T. Institute, Emerson College, Bridge Rep of Boston, Central Square Theatre/M.I.T., Weston Drama Workshop, The Umbrella Center for the Arts, Fresh Ink Theatre, among others. She has taught directing, producing, and casting at Emerson College, Harvard University, Suffolk University, Boston University, Brandeis University, Lesley University, and Boston Conservatory. Bradshaw joined Gloucester Stage in 2023 after acting as the Producing Artistic Director at the Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, NY and having spent eight seasons producing at the Huntington Theatre in Boston. She is a proud member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Meet the Cast

 

Diego Arciniegas* / Vanya

Diego Arciniegas is delighted to return to Gloucester Stage.  Diego directed last season’s production of Private Lives.  Relevant credits include playing Vanya in Uncle Vanya at the Apollinaire Theatre Company, Thom Pain in Thom Pain at the New Repertory Theatre, (directed by Adrianne Krstansky), and directing his own translation of The Seagull at the Publick Theatre, Boston.  Diego served as Artistic Director of “The Publick” from 2001 to 2011, producing, performing, and directing plays by Shakespeare, Shaw, Stoppard, and Coward, (among others).  Diego has held an academic appointment at Wellesley College since 1996, where he still serves as Senior Lecturer in the Theatre Studies Department.  His essay, Retracing Antonio:  In Search of the Merchant of Venice, was published in Shakespeare’s Sense of Character, On the Page and from the Stage, (2012),Yu Kin Ko, Editor, Routlege Press, London, U.K., ISBN 9781315608778.

Jaime José Hernández / Spike

Gloucester Stage Company: Tall Tales From Blackburn Tavern, The Huntington: John Proctor is The Villain, Actors Shakespeare Project: As You Like It, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company: Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Moonbox Productions: The House of Ramon Iglesia, Gamm Theatre: Sweat, Lyric Stage Company of Boston: Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine, American Repertory Theatre: The Arboretum Experience, Hub Theatre Company of Boston: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Apollinaire Theatre Company: Romeo & Juliet, Zeitgeist Stage Company: Vicuña. TV: Power Book II: Ghost (STARZ), S.W.A.T (CBS) Jaime is a founding member of Teatro Chelsea. Represented by: Kreativ Media Partners. jaimejosehernandez.com @jaimejose.hernandez

Adrianne Krstansky* / Sonia

New Electric Ballroom at Gloucester Stage; Boston credits include The Art of Burning, Doll’s House, Come Back Little Sheba (Eliot Norton Award) at the Huntington Theater; Paradise Lost, Britannicus, Ubu Rock at the American Repertory Theater; People, Places and Things, Every Brilliant Thing (IRNE award), Tribes, Body Awareness, and Snakebit at Speakeasy Stage Company. Other credits include roles at Boston Playwrights Theater, Commonwealth Shakespeare, Lyric Theater Company, New Repertory Theater. Regional credits include Hartford Stage Company: The Art of Burning, Steppenwolf Theater: A Clockwork Orange, Twelfth Night, The Kitchen Theater: Tribes. New York City credits include Atlantic Theater Company: Luck, Pluck and Virtue, Public Theater: 365 Days/365 Plays. Film/TV credits include Invitation to a Bonfire, Little Women, American Woman, Olive Kitteridge, and Company Men. She is the Louis, Frances and Jeffrey Sachar Chair of Creative Arts and a Professor of Theater Arts at Brandeis University.

Eryn O’Sullivan / Cassandra

Eryn is an actor from Georgia who got started with her formal training at Boston University’s School of Fine Arts. Since then, she has lived in Los Angeles, Asheville, London and NYC, finally finding her way to Gloucester in early 2021. She has performed previously in the area with her friends at Lanes Coven in Romeo & Juliet, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Macbeth, and will be returning in July for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Eryn is also a founding member of an all-female theatre and production company, Don, Pat & Tom, based in New York. She feels very fortunate to be working with Gloucester Stage for the first time and hope you have as much fun as she’s having!

Valyn Lyric Turner* / Nina

 Regional: John Proctor is the Villain (The Huntington), A Raisin in the Sun (New Repertory Theatre), Diaspora! (New Repertory Theatre), Seven Guitars(Actors’ Shakespeare Project), LORENA: A Tabloid Epic (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre), Walking the Tightrope(Wheelock Family Theatre) Educational: Little Row Boat, or Conjecture(Boston University), Film:  “Acting Coach Nightmare” (Lifetime Network), BFA Theatre Arts & BA Spanish from Boston University. Represented by Andrew Wilson Agency. 

Wendy Waring* / Masha

Wendy is so happy to be back at GSC for a third time AND home on Cape Ann, having spent the majority of her summers here in Rockport. She worked at Tuck’s Candy before leaving Emerson College to get her shot on Broadway. Beyond appearing in six Broadway musicals, (retiring her dance shoes after THE PRODUCERS) numerous TV episodes, commercials, pilots, and award winning short films, she is a woman of many talents. She has choreographed 75 multiple classic musicals, been an associate director on a new Off-Broadway musical slated to go into production this summer, lent her design and organizing talents to numerous high-profile clients in New York City, and raised two very successful children with her husband in a two-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She wishes to dedicate her performance to her father Bayard Waring, a huge supporter of the theater! “He would have loved Masha!”

Meet the Production Team 

Cecilia Bianchi / Asst. Stage Manager + Apprentice

Cecilia is a stage manager from North Kingstown, RI, who recently graduated from Connecticut College with a B.A. in Theater and English. She is so excited to be a part of Gloucester Stage Company this summer! Over the past few years, she has worked backstage in theater (her favorite place to be), notably on The Moors (Stage Manager), Urinetown (Stage Manager) and Cabaret (ASM). Cece has also spent her time as managing director of Wig and Candle, a student-run theater organization at Connecticut College. Cece is looking forward to continuing to learn and grow as a theater maker. She sends her love and gratitude to family and friends!

Anshuman Bhatia^ / Lighting Designer

Stage, Austin Opera, Bard Music Festival, Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts, Classic Stage Company, Dublin’s Civic Theater, Hartford Stage, HERE Arts Center, Keen Company, Kentucky Opera, LoftOpera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Ma-Yi Theater Company, Madison Opera, Opera Columbus, Opera Omaha, Opera San Jose, Pacific Symphony, Palm Beach Opera, Primary Stages Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, Repertory Theater of Saint Louis, Santa Fe Opera, Soho Rep, The Atlantic, The Juilliard School, The McKittrick Hotel, The Park Avenue Armory, The Public, Virginia Arts Festival, WP Theater, Writers Theater | Previously for Gloucester Stage: Private Lives, Grand Horizons. Member USA829 | M.F.A. NYU | www.bhatiadesign.com

Melanie Chen Cole^ / Sound Designer

Melanie Chen Cole (she/her) is a San Diego based sound designer and thrilled to make her Gloucester Stage debut. Other regional theatre credits includes designs at Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alley Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Playhouse, Dallas Theater Center, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Geffen Playhouse, Goodman Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Indiana Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Milwaukee Rep, Northern Stage, The Old Globe, PlayMakers Rep, South Coast Rep, Studio Theatre, and the Utah Shakespeare Festival. She holds an MFA in Theatre and Dance from UC San Diego. melaniesound.com, @melaniechencole.

Tara Hightower / Assistant Stage Manager

Tara is a Connecticut Native and Central Connecticut State University alumni who holds a BFA in Theatre Technology, Design, and Production. She is excited to finally be returning to Gloucester Stage! Select Stage Management Credits include: Lanes Coven Theater Co. – Romeo & Juliet, The Importance of Being Earnest, & Macbeth | Lost Nation Theater – Sam & Jim in Hell | Brass City Ballet – The Nutcracker. Later this summer Tara will be the Stage Manager for A Midsummer Nights Dream & A Servant of Two Masters at Lanes Coven Theater Co. in Gloucester. Proud member of the Stage Managers’ Association of the United States. IG: @tarahightowersm 

Chelsea Kerl / Costume Designer

Chelsea is a Boston based freelance artist and educator; she received her MFA in Costume Design from Boston University and previously attended the University of Maryland.  Previous designs at Gloucester: Tall Tales From Blackburn Tavern, Grand Horizons, Mr. Fullerton Between the Sheets, Tiny Beautiful Things, Native Gardens, Ben Butler, Madame Defarge, To Kill a Mockingbird, Man in Snow, Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!), A Measure of Normalcy, and Gloucester Blue.  Chelsea is the costume shop manager and costume design professor at Wellesley College; she also teaches at Bridgewater State University and previously worked in the costume shop of the American Repertory Theatre.  Select recent designs include- Huntington Theatre Company: Witch (Elliot Norton Award Winner, Outstanding Design: Large Theatre), Wheelock Family Theatre at BU: Willy Wonka;  SpeakEasy Stage Company/Front Porch Arts Collective: Pass Over; Company One/American Repertory Theatre: Greater Good.  More of her work can be seen at www.chelseakerl.com.

 

Kristin Loeffler / Scenic Designer

Tiny Beautiful Things (Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Production) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Gloucester Stage Company; Into the Woods, Boston Conservatory; Popcorn Falls, Greater Boston Stage Company; Photograph 51, Central Square Theater; Moby Dick, New Repertory Theatre (IRNE Award). Ms. Loeffler has also designed sets and costumes for SpeakEasy Stage, Lyric Stage Company, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, ART Institute, Centastage, The Theatre Offensive, Barrington Stage, Sugan Theatre, Boston College, Wellesley College, Brandeis University, University of Rochester, Pittsburgh Playhouse, American Living Room@HERE, NYC, and New Georges, NYC. Education: BA English and Art, Stanford University; MFA Set Design, Carnegie Mellon University.

Ally MacLean* / Production Stage Manager

Ally MacLean (they/them/theirs) is a Boston area stage manager and health and safety management professional. They are thrilled to be returning to Gloucester Stage after managing The Ding Dongs last season. Ally is a proud graduate of Emerson’s BFA Stage and Production Management program. They have multiple stage management credits with the Huntington, American Repertory Theatre, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Wheelock Family Theatre, Moonbox Productions, New Repertory Theatre, White Heron Theatre Company (Nantucket), and Dreamland Stage Company (Nantucket). They have multiple film and TV credits with Kameo Health Inc. as a Covid Testing Production Coordinator. Outside of the entertainment industry, Ally loves working at Emerson College’s Commencement Office, going on adventures, enjoying the Salt Life, sailing on Quinobequin, and browsing social media @TheAllyAvery.

Emme Shaw / Properties Designer

Emme is thrilled to be back with Gloucester Stage! Previous work with GSC includes: Stew, Private Lives, Out of the Mouths of Babes, Cyrano, The 39 Steps, Native Gardens, Baskerville, Reparations, and Paradise Blue. Other recent credits include Miss Holmes Returns with Greater Boston Stage (design/acting), and BLKS (Elliot Norton recipient design), Strange Loop, English, Fairview, and The Prom with Speakeasy Stage. Emme is the Properties designer and supervisor at Boston College Theater Department, and a graduate of Carnegie Mellon Drama. Thank you to Phoebe.

Yijia Yu / Assistant Director + Apprentice

Yijia has been doing theater throughout high school and college. She recently graduated Brandeis University with a double degree in Anthropology and Theater. Yijia assistant directed Without Blinking: A Devised Participatory Performance About Climate Action, Stupid F*cking Bird, and Twelfth Night at Brandeis Theater Department. She also directed Mountain Language by Harold Pinter for her senior thesis. She is exited to join Gloucester Stage this season!

 

Critical Praise for Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

“Vanya and Sonia is a Silly, Smart Mashup. Brainy and Witty and Clever and Cute.”

Variety

Marilyn Stasio

“Durang has a gift for taking something silly, improbable or outright absurd & making it resonate”

L.A. Times

Daryl H. Miller

“Utterly hilarious… takes characters & themes from Chekhov, pours them into a blender”

Broadway World

Chloe Rabinowitz

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA)
ºThe Director is a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC)
^Represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York