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April 3 - 26, 2015 , Allen Theatre

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

written by Christopher Durang
directed by Bruce Jordan
co-produced with Geva Theatre Center

Run time: 2 hours 15 minutes including one 15-minute intermission
Advisory: Recommended for ages 14+. Play contains adult situations and innuendo.

Siblings Vanya and Sonia are contentedly discontent to pass into their twilight years sipping coffee and watching for blue herons. However, their unremarkable but stable lives are about to be upended when their fading B-movie-star sister descends upon their quiet country home with a revelation—and sexy boy toy Spike—in tow. Existential, Chekhovian despair and family-squabbling has never been as funny as in Christopher Durang’s zany, Tony Award-winning comedy that questions our ability to age gracefully in an era of selfies and Twitter.

Photos & Videos Download Hi Res Photos

From left to right: Margaret Reed (Masha), Toni DiBuono (Sonia) and John Scherer (Vanya). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: Maren Bush (Nina) and Margaret Reed (Masha). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: Gregory Isaac Stone (Spike), Maren Bush (Nina) and John Scherer (Vanya). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: John Scherer (Vanya), Gregory Isaac Stone (Spike), Maren Bush (Nina), Margaret Reed (Masha), Toni DiBuono (Sonia) and Danielle Lee Greaves (Cassandra). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

Danielle Lee Greaves (Cassandra). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: Toni DiBuono (Sonia), John Scherer (Vanya) and Margaret Reed (Masha). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: Margaret Reed (Masha) and Gregory Isaac Stone (Spike). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: Margaret Reed (Masha), John Scherer (Vanya) and Toni DiBuono (Sonia). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: Gregory Isaac Stone (Spike), Margaret Reed (Masha), Toni DiBuono (Sonia) and John Scherer (Vanya). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

Margaret Reed (Masha). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: Margaret Reed (Masha), Maren Bush (Nina) and Gregory Isaac Stone (Spike). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: John Scherer (Vanya) and Maren Bush (Nina). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: John Scherer (Vanya), Margaret Reed (Masha) and Maren Bush (Nina). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

Toni DiBuono (Sonia). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

Maren Bush (Nina). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: Margaret Reed (Masha), Gregory Isaac Stone (Spike) and Maren Bush (Nina). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

Gregory Isaac Stone (Spike). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: Toni DiBuono (Sonia), Gregory Isaac Stone (Spike), Margaret Reed (Masha) and Maren Bush (Nina). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

Danielle Lee Greaves (Cassandra). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: John Scherer (Vanya), Maren Bush (Nina) and Gregory Isaac Stone (Spike). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

Margaret Reed (Masha). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: Toni DiBuono (Sonia), Margaret Reed (Masha) and John Scherer (Vanya). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: Margaret Reed (Masha), John Scherer (Vanya) and Gregory Isaac Stone (Spike). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: Margaret Reed (Masha) and Gregory Isaac Stone (Spike). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

John Scherer (Vanya). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

From left to right: Danielle Lee Greaves (Cassandra) and John Scherer (Vanya). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni.

Toni DiBuono (Sonia). Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni

Artists

Maren Bush

Maren Bush

(Nina) is pleased to be making her Cleveland Play House debut. New York credits include Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, La MaMa E.T.C., Ensemble Studio Theatre, and the 52nd Street Project. Favorite regional theatre credits include The Guthrie Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Florida Studio Theatre and Theatre more(Nina) is pleased to be making her Cleveland Play House debut. New York credits include Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, La MaMa E.T.C., Ensemble Studio Theatre, and the 52nd Street Project. Favorite regional theatre credits include The Guthrie Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Florida Studio Theatre and Theatre de la Jeune Lune. Film and television credits include ID, The History Channel, Sharing (independent pilot) and the short film Reaching Home. She received her M.F.A. in Acting from University of California San Diego.

Toni DiBuono

Toni DiBuono

(Sonia) has appeared on Broadway in The Boys From Syracuse and Wonderful Town. Off Broadway credits include The Tiny Closet, Forbidden Hollywood, The Truth About Ruth, Bad Habits, Up Against It, Forbidden Broadway (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards) and I Got Fired at the New York Musical more(Sonia) has appeared on Broadway in The Boys From Syracuse and Wonderful Town. Off Broadway credits include The Tiny Closet, Forbidden Hollywood, The Truth About Ruth, Bad Habits, Up Against It, Forbidden Broadway (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards) and I Got Fired at the New York Musical Theatre Festival and the Daegu Musical Theatre Festival in Daegu, South Korea. Television credits include Law and Order SVU, Law and Order, Our Home (co-host), Mathnet (series lead) and numerous commercials. Toni lives in New Jersey with her husband, actor Michael McGrath, and their daughter, actor Kathleen Claire McGrath.

Christopher Durang

(Playwright) Christopher Durang’s plays include A History of the American Film (Tony nomination, Best Book of a Musical), The Actor's Nightmare, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All For You (Obie Award, Off-Broadway run, 1981-83), Beyond Therapy (on Broadway in 1982, with Dianne Wiest and John Lithgow), Baby with the more(Playwright) Christopher Durang’s plays include A History of the American Film (Tony nomination, Best Book of a Musical), The Actor's Nightmare, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All For You (Obie Award, Off-Broadway run, 1981-83), Beyond Therapy (on Broadway in 1982, with Dianne Wiest and John Lithgow), Baby with the Bathwater (Playwrights Horizons, 1983), The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Public Theater, 1985; Obie Award, Dramatists Guild Hull Warriner Award), Laughing Wild (Playwrights Horizons, 1987), and Durang Durang (an evening of six plays at Manhattan Theatre Club, 1994, including the Tennessee Williams parody For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls). In 1996, he was commissioned by the Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation to write a new book for the popular musical Babes in Arms. Sex and Longing was commissioned by Lincoln Center Theater and was presented on Broadway in fall 1996 starring Sigourney Weaver. The Idiots Karamazov, a full-length play with music written with Albert Innaurato, was revived at the American Repertory Theatre. His play Betty's Summer Vacation (Drama Desk Award nomination) had its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons in February 1999 to great critical acclaim and sold-out houses and was extended three times. It was the recipient of four Obie Awards, for distinguished playwriting, directing, acting, and set design. His new musical (with music by Peter Melnick), Adrift in Macao, premiered at New York Stage and Film in the summer of 2002. Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge was commissioned by Pittsburgh’s City Theater and had its world premiere in November 2002. In the early '80s, he and Sigourney Weaver co-wrote and performed in their acclaimed Brecht-Weill parody Das Lusitania Songspiel and were both nominated for Drama Desk Awards for Best Performer in a Musical. In 1993, he sang and tried to dance in the five-person Off-Broadway Sondheim revue Putting it Together, with Julie Andrews at Manhattan Theatre Club. And he played a singing Congressman in Call Me Madam with Tyne Daly as part of Encores. He can be heard on cast recordings of both productions. In movies, he has appeared in The Secret of My Success, Mr. North, The Butcher's Wife, Housesitter, The Cowboy Way, The Object of My Affection, Simply Irresistible, and The Out of Towners, among others. For television, he wrote for a Carol Burnett special called Carol and Robin and Whoopi and Carl; and for PBS’ series Trying Times, he wrote a teleplay called "The Visit" starring Swoosie Kurtz as Wanda, the upsetting houseguest. He’s written several screenplays, including The House of Husbands (co-authored with Wendy Wasserstein), The Adventures of Lola for Tri-Star and director Herbert Ross, The Nun who Shot Liberty Valance, and his own adaptation of Sister Mary… which aired on Showtime with Diane Keaton in the title role; and two sitcom pilots, Billy and Meg (for Fox Television) and Dysfunction! - the TV Show for Warner Brothers. He hopes one day they will be produced, perhaps in heaven. He has an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. Early in his career, he won a Guggenheim, a Rockefeller, the CBS Playwriting Fellowship, the Lecompte du Nouy Foundation grant, and the Kenyon Festival Theatre Playwriting Prize. In 1995 he won the prestigious three-year Lila Wallace Readers Digest Award; as part of his grant, he ran a writing workshop for adult children of alcoholics. Since 1994 he has been co-chair with Marsha Norman of the Playwriting Program at the Juilliard School in Manhattan. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council.

Danielle Lee Greaves

Danielle Lee Greaves

(Cassandra) has appeared on Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire, Rent, Hairspray, Sunset Boulevard and Show Boat. Other New York credits include The Importance of Being Earnest, Civil War Voices, Two Gentlemen of Verona and Purlie. National credits include The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, The Lion King (Cheetah Tour), more(Cassandra) has appeared on Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire, Rent, Hairspray, Sunset Boulevard and Show Boat. Other New York credits include The Importance of Being Earnest, Civil War Voices, Two Gentlemen of Verona and Purlie. National credits include The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, The Lion King (Cheetah Tour), Rent (Benny Tour) and Rent (Angel Tour). International credits include Rent (Asia), Show Boat (Toronto) and Hair (Europe). Regional credits include A Woman Called Truth, All Shook Up, Ethel Waters - His Eye is on the Sparrow, Caroline or Change and Swinging on a Star. Film credits include Growing Up (And Other Lies). Television credits include Show Me A Hero, Nurse Jackie, Smash, The Big C, Rescue Me, Damages, Whoopi and 100 Centre Street. Voiceover credits include the A Streetcar Named Desire Preshow Announcement and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Danielle is also a member of Broadway Inspirational Voices.

Bruce Jordan

Bruce Jordan

(Director) is probably best known for his work as co-adaptor, co-producer and director of Shear Madness, the popular comedy-whodunit which holds the distinction of being the longest running play in the history of the American theatre. The Boston Company recently celebrated its 35th year at the Charles Playhouse and more(Director) is probably best known for his work as co-adaptor, co-producer and director of Shear Madness, the popular comedy-whodunit which holds the distinction of being the longest running play in the history of the American theatre. The Boston Company recently celebrated its 35th year at the Charles Playhouse and the DC production at the Kennedy Center is currently in its 28th year. Bruce has directed 40 productions of that show across the country and has supervised many of the foreign productions, including Dernier Coup des Ciseaux, the Paris translation which won the 2014 Moliere Award for Best Comedy. His early theatre experience was at Towers Hall Playhouse and The Lake George Dinner Theatre in upstate New York where he directed a wide variety of shows such as Little Mary Sunshine, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds and The Apple Tree. He was in the founding company of the Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY where he was an actor/director for four years in rotating rep. At Geva, he has directed Noel Coward's Fumed Oak, D.H Lawrence's The Daughter-In-Law, Neil Simon's The Good Doctor, Steve Martin's The Underpants and Robin Hawdon's Perfect Wedding, which he later directed at Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota and again last summer at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, MA. Most recently at FST, Bruce helmed Monty Python's Spamalot and returns there this year to direct John Patrick Shanley's latest play Outside Mullingar.

Margaret Reed

Margaret Reed

(Masha) is perhaps best known as Shannon O'Hara McKechnie on As The World Turns, recurring on Law and Order: SVU, and from Seinfeld's “The Baby Shower.” An award-winning actor with a B.A. from U.C. Santa Cruz and an M.F.A. from Cornell University, Margaret has played Kate in The Taming more(Masha) is perhaps best known as Shannon O'Hara McKechnie on As The World Turns, recurring on Law and Order: SVU, and from Seinfeld's “The Baby Shower.” An award-winning actor with a B.A. from U.C. Santa Cruz and an M.F.A. from Cornell University, Margaret has played Kate in The Taming of the Shrew at The Colorado Shakespeare Festival and at Cornell. With John Houseman's The Acting Company, she toured the U.S. in seven classical plays including Olivia in Twelfth Night, and then again at The Huntington Theatre. Other credits include Masha in Three Sisters, Orson's Shadow, Other People's Money (Drama-Logue Award), Dinner with Friends (Best Supporting Actress, NJ Critics Award) and many others. Television credits include the other Law and Order series, HBO's Mildred Pierce, Star Trek:TNG, The Young Riders, The Golden Girls, Spin City, and others. Voiceovers include Dora the Explorer and many national commercials. Margaret also recently filmed five movies.

John Scherer

John Scherer

(Vanya) has appeared at CPH in Vonya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and Company. He starred in the Broadway and film versions of Andrew Lloyd Webber's By Jeeves, written and directed by Sir Alan Ayckbourn. Other Broadway credits include Sunset Boulevard and Lovemusik, directed by Harold Prince. He more(Vanya) has appeared at CPH in Vonya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and Company. He starred in the Broadway and film versions of Andrew Lloyd Webber's By Jeeves, written and directed by Sir Alan Ayckbourn. Other Broadway credits include Sunset Boulevard and Lovemusik, directed by Harold Prince. He also worked with Mr. Prince in the premiere of 3hree at the Ahmanson Theatre. His Off Broadway credits include Dames At Sea, Olympus On My Mind and Preppies. Other New York credits include The Most Happy Fella (NYC Opera) and Out of this World (City Center). He has toured nationally in 42nd Street, White Christmas, Cats and Mame. He won the Connecticut Critics Circle Award for his performance as George M at the Goodspeed Opera House, He most recently played Bobby Kennedy in The Great Society at the Arena Stage. Other regional credits include the Kennedy Center, Goodman Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse and many others. Film and television credits include Spinniing Into Butter, The Shield, Crossing Jordan, Law and Order (all three series) and Titus. He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.

Gregory Isaac Stone

Gregory Isaac Stone

(Spike) is making his Cleveland Play House debut. He most recently appeared at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts as Jack in Lord of the Flies. Gregory graduated from The Boston Conservatory. more(Spike) is making his Cleveland Play House debut. He most recently appeared at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts as Jack in Lord of the Flies. Gregory graduated from The Boston Conservatory.

Bill Clarke

(Scenic Designer) is pleased to return to Cleveland Play House where he designed The Underpants, On Golden Pond, I Hate Hamlet, Rounding Third, Last Night of Ballyhoo and To Kill A Mockingbird. He designed A Walk in the Woods on Broadway, in Moscow and Vilnius; at City Center he more(Scenic Designer) is pleased to return to Cleveland Play House where he designed The Underpants, On Golden Pond, I Hate Hamlet, Rounding Third, Last Night of Ballyhoo and To Kill A Mockingbird. He designed A Walk in the Woods on Broadway, in Moscow and Vilnius; at City Center he designed Abby’s Song. Off-Broadway credits include Lemon Sky, Keen Company; So Help Me God!, Lucille Lortel Theatre; Misalliance, Pearl Theatre; Secret Order, 59E59; Eccentricities of a Nightingale, The Actors Company Theatre; June Moon, Drama Department; The Daughter-In-Law, Mint Theater Company; Ann Magnuson's You Could Be Home Now, New York Shakespeare Festival; and The Innocents Crusade, Manhattan Theatre Club. He works extensively in regional theaters including Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Old Globe Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Huntington Theatre Company, A.R.T., McCarter Theatre Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Repertory Theater of St. Louis, Geva Theatre Center, Asolo Repertory Theatre and Cincinnati Playhouse. He is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and recipient of a Hollywood Drama-Logue Award, IRNE Award and a San Diego Theater Critics Circle Award.

John Godbout

(Stage Manager) was Cleveland Play House's resident stage manager from 2001 to 2008 and returned to CPH in the fall of 2011. "Most recently, John stage managed A New Brain at Barrington Stage Company. John has also stage managed at North Shore Music Theatre, Capital Repertory Theatre, The more(Stage Manager) was Cleveland Play House's resident stage manager from 2001 to 2008 and returned to CPH in the fall of 2011. "Most recently, John stage managed A New Brain at Barrington Stage Company. John has also stage managed at North Shore Music Theatre, Capital Repertory Theatre, The Weston Playhouse, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Northern Stage, Seaside Music Theatre, and Porthouse Theatre.

Tom Humes

(Assistant Stage Manager) serves as an Assistant Professor for the School of Theatre and Dance at Kent State University, where he teaches courses in Stage Management, Production Management, Theatre Management, and an intro course to computing software for the theatre practitioner. Tom has been a part of the more(Assistant Stage Manager) serves as an Assistant Professor for the School of Theatre and Dance at Kent State University, where he teaches courses in Stage Management, Production Management, Theatre Management, and an intro course to computing software for the theatre practitioner. Tom has been a part of the stage management teams with: Porthouse Theatre, Cain Park, Cleveland Play House, McCarter Theatre Center, Dobama Theatre, Beck Center for the Arts, Karamu House, Cleveland Orchestra and Opera Cleveland. He has been an assistant production manager, events production manager, and senior production manager/assistant to the general manager at Cain Park. He is also a member of the I.A.T.S.E. Tom is twice published, with a recent book review of Stage Management Theory as a Guide to Practice: Cultivating a Creative Approach featured in Theatre Topics and he contributed to the book, Off Headset: Essays on Stage Management Work, Life, and Career with his essay, “Maximum Flexibility”.

Mimi Maxmen

(Costume Designer) has designed The Misanthrope, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune and Conversations With My Father at Cleveland Play House. New York credits include The Norwegians, Becket, The Frogs, Uncle Vanya (Tom Courtenay, James Fox), Vieux Carré, The Seagull, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer more(Costume Designer) has designed The Misanthrope, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune and Conversations With My Father at Cleveland Play House. New York credits include The Norwegians, Becket, The Frogs, Uncle Vanya (Tom Courtenay, James Fox), Vieux Carré, The Seagull, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Shayna Maidel, Inadmissible Evidence (Nicol Williamson), A...My Name Is Alice, Virgil Thomson’s Lord Byron (Alice Tully Hall) and The Mother of Us All. She has designed for Roundabout Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, Second Stage, Mark Taper Forum, Geva Theatre Center, Santa Fe Opera, New York City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and Metropolitan Opera Ballet. Film credits include The Lightkeepers, Janet McTeer's Tumbleweeds, The Singing Detective, The Pretty Boys and Luster. She currently teaches at the New School/Parsons School of Design and serves on the Advisory Board of TDF Costume Collection.

James C. Swonger

(Sound Designer) has designed sound for many Cleveland Play House productions including The Good Peaches (world premiere), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Breath and Imagination, Good People, The Devil’s Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith, Bell, Book and Candle, The Game’s Afoot (world premiere), Bill more(Sound Designer) has designed sound for many Cleveland Play House productions including The Good Peaches (world premiere), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Breath and Imagination, Good People, The Devil’s Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith, Bell, Book and Candle, The Game’s Afoot (world premiere), Bill W. and Dr. Bob, Heaven’s My Destination (world premiere), Noises Off!, Gee’s Bend, and I Am My Own Wife. CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program credits include The Fifth of July, The Philadelphia Story, The Three Sisters, Twelfth Night, and An Orchard. Additional credits include Cleveland’s Lyric Opera Company, Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, Pioneer Theatre Company, Centerstage Theatre, George Street Playhouse, Yale Repertory Theatre, and premiere productions of why i had to dance, The Tragic Demise of the Whaleship Essex and Swinging on a Star: A Tribute to the Music of Johnny Burke.

Ann G. Wrightson

(Lighting Designer) is pleased to be returning to Cleveland Play House where she designed Clybourne Park last season. Ann designed the Broadway production of Souvenir and was a Tony nominee for her work on Tony Award-winning August: Osage County, which she designed for Broadway, London, Sydney and the National more(Lighting Designer) is pleased to be returning to Cleveland Play House where she designed Clybourne Park last season. Ann designed the Broadway production of Souvenir and was a Tony nominee for her work on Tony Award-winning August: Osage County, which she designed for Broadway, London, Sydney and the National Tour. Recent projects include Good People, Geva Theatre Center; The Game’s Afoot and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Indiana Repertory Theatre; and Oklahoma!, Fiddler on the Roof and Anna Karenina, Portland Center Stage. Past projects include The Unmentionables, Yale Repertory Theatre; Tracy Letts’ The Man From Nebraska, Steppenwolf; and ten seasons at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Other work has been seen at Arena Stage, The Alliance and Eugene O'Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference. Awards include a 2009 IRNE Award for Best Lighting for Fences at Huntington Theatre and a Backstage Garland Award, for Magic Fire at Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

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