Alan Ayckbourn to Adapt Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya

Alan Ayckbourn is penning a new adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, according to a report in Variety.

Ayckbourn’s version, entitled Dear Uncle, will relocate the action from Russia to Britain’s Lake District in 1935. The production is planned to debut in London during the summer of 2011. Tony Award winner Matthew Warchus is set to direct, and Ralph Fiennes is expected to play the part based on Dr. Astrov.

Ayckbourn’s many plays include The Norman Conquests, Bedroom Farce, Absurd Person Singular, My Wonderful Day, and Comic Potential.