About This Show
The LITE Company presents the 5th annual Chekhov Now Festival, a festival of new theatre works inspired by the plays, one-acts, letters, and fictions of the beloved Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov.
Click individual show titles for Performance Schedules and Tickets:
The Bet
Judythe Cohen’s adaptation of Chekhov’s short story, The Bet is directed by LITE Company Artistic Director Adam Melnick.
Cherry Orchard: Firs’ Dream
Adapted and directed by Sonoko Kawahara, Cherry Orchard: Firs’ Dream begins with the last scene of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and is told as a dream from the perspective of the character Firs.
3 Sisters Redux
Adapted and directed by Brian Rogers, 3 Sisters Redux is a reductionist take on Chekhov’s Three Sisters that removes all ancillary characters and is performed simply using the dialogue of the sisters themselves. The result is a dense, concentrated, poetic and challenging discourse on the nature of family and sisterhood. Features performances by Jennifer Lee Dudek, David Fraioli and Sheila Lewandowski.
A Teacup Full of Vodka
A Teacup Full of Vodka is a one woman story based on material from several Chekhov plays and short stories about death, dying and rummage sales. Cynthia Croot of Tinderbox Theatre offers a glimpse into a woman’s long and spirited life as she talks about who she is, where she’s been, and what she’s seen.
In This Is The End Of Sleeping
Based on Chekhov’s fragment “Fatherlessness,” In This Is The End Of Sleeping is directed by Jay Scheib. The sweat pours like rain and no one will ever be the same when the laughing and drinking and running through the woods gives way to bathing and kissing and shooting guns. Features performances by John Dewis, Olga Fedorischcheva, Joan Jubett, Vanessa Morris-Burke, and Eric Dean Scott.
Three Sisters: Lost In Time
A Korean production of this Chekhov classic by the Seoul Factory of Performing Arts under Artistic Director Hyoung Taek Limb – is interpreted through Grotowski Yoga and traditional Korean Mask Dance. Cast features Soo-Mi Yoo as Olga, Young-Sun Lee as Masha, Kinam Koo as Irina, Sangjin Lee as Andrei, Deok-Sun Youn as Vershinin, and Yeon-Hee Lee as Natasha.
Chekhov In Paris
This double bill includes Keith Reddin’s David and Bathsheba, directed by Carl Forsman, about an encounter at the Louvre between Semyon, from Bulgakov’s Black Snow and Elena, from Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. Also, Christian Parker of the Atlantic Theater Co. directs Cusi Cram’s Anya in Paris, a prelude to The Cherry Orchard. Both plays were created exclusively for ChekhovNOW.
Uncle Victor (a reading)
Times Square Playwrights presents a staged reading of Rosary O’Neill’s full length play Uncle Victor. Based on Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, this play is set in Louisiana around the turn of the century.