BY ANTON CHEKHOV •
ADAPTED AND DIRECTED BY GORDON EDELSTEIN
ON THE MAINSTAGE MAY 9 THRU JUNE 3, 2007

FROM THE DESK OF ARTISTIC DIRECTOR GORDON EDELSTEIN

"I have felt so close to this play for 20 years and it has taken me that long to feel ready to direct it. Chekhov is a miracle of human understanding and compassion and I can't wait to get started."

THE DESIGN:

A classic story of a family estate brought to the brink of ruin at the arrival of an ailing professor and his exquisitely beautiful wife. Uncle Vanya is a captivating exploration of the human condition, and a wickedly comic romance immersed in unrequited love and extraordinary tenderness.

THE BACKSTAGE PASS:

Anton Chekhov was a physician and considered writing to be a hobby for most of his life. He died of tuberculosis contracted from one of his patients at the age of 44. There is a crater on Mercury named after him.

THE CURTAIN CALL:

Uncle Vanya was first produced at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1899. The play is a reworking of an earlier script, The Wood Demon (1889). A 1994 American film version, adapted by David Mamet, was entitled Vanya on 42nd Street, starring Wallace Shawn and Julianne Moore.