Acclaimed Drama Makes Posthumous Premiere
CHEKHOV & MARIA
July 7 - 30 at Barrow Group Theater
"deceptively remarkable" - LA Weekly
"Ms. Bach's highly naturalistic dialogue is transparent, quickly drawing one into the drama's vortex ... a cogent and moving play" - The New York Times (on Name Day)
"Playwright Bach quickly involves the audience, adeptly setting up a modern tragedy as searing as some of Arthur Miller's early work... a masterpiece" - Variety (on Name Day)
John Stark Productions will present the New York Premiere of Jovanka Bach's CHEKHOV & MARIA, a new drama about the famed playwright and his sister. The posthumous production pays tribute to director John Stark's wife, playwright Bach, who succumbed after a long battle with cancer in January. The drama will be staged at the Barrow Group Theater, where Bach's play Name Day was staged shortly before her death and won rave reviews. Previews begin July 7th with opening night scheduled for July 9th. In September, a screen version of CHEKHOV & MARIA will be filmed for Bravo, shot on location at Chekhov's home in the Ukraine.
Set in Yalta in the early 1900's, CHEKHOV & MARIA is a bittersweet portrait of the famed Russian playwright. With his health rapidly deteriorating, Anton struggles to complete his masterwork The Cherry Orchard. At his side is his possessive sister Maria, prodding him to write while strictly maintaining her brothers affairs and keeping him away from his new wife Olga.
Jovanka Bach wrote over a dozen plays while working as a full time medical practitioner (much like Chekhov himself) in LA. CHEKHOV & MARIA, based on the playwrights personal letters housed in the the British Museum, was originally produced in LA in 1988 and later went on to place first at the 2002 Santa Cruz Playwrighting Festival; the current production premiered at The Odyssey Theater in Los Angeles in May 2006. Her plays include O'Neill's Ghosts, Sylvie and A Matter of the Heart (two O'Neill Playwrights Conference semifinalists), Mercy Warren's Tea (Best Play winner from the American Radio Theatre), and Name Day (nominated for a PEN West Award).
Directed by John Stark, the production stars Ron Bottitta ("Crazy Lennie" on TV's Lost / Caryl Churchill's Ice Cream & Hot Fudge at The Public / forthcoming film The Hard Corps opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme) and Gillian Brashear (LA productions of Extremities, The Seagull and Hurlyburly -- as well as a classically trained pianist) with lighting by Joe Morrissey, sound by Harold Wolf and costumes by Zale Morris.
John Stark Productions produced the LA premiere of Name Day at The Odyssey Theater. They are currently working on the film Sons of Freedom, starring Leelee Sobieski, Genevieve Bujold and Christopher Plummer. Stark has staged plays in Canada, the U.S. and London. Stark's solo show An Evening With Stephen Leacock was filmed by RCA at the National Arts Center in Ottawa and has been seen on CBC, BBC, PBS and Bravo.
CHEKHOV & MARIA runs July 7 -30, Thursday-Saturday at 8:00pm and Sunday at 7:00pm. The Barrow Group Theatre is located at 312 W. 36th Street ( between 8th & 9th Avenue -- accessible from the A,C,E trains at 34th Street). Tickets are $18. For reservations call Smarttix at 212-868-4444 or online at Smarttix.com.