This year’s play for Production Ensemble will be THREE SISTERS by Anton Chekhov in a new adaptation by Benedict Andrews. It recently premiered in London, where it received stellar reviews. THREE SISTERS will be directed by Richard Hamburger, with a set designed by Assistant Professor Matthew Saunders, costumes designed by Assistant Professor Laila Swanson, and lights designed by James Murphy.

Born and raised amid the culture and excitement of Moscow, the three sisters chafe at the constraints of life in the small provincial backwater town, where they moved with their late father, an army General. Chekhov creates vibrant portraits of a family struggling to fulfill individual dreams through work and love, while facing painful new economic and social realities. Benedict Andrews’ uninhibited new version transposes Chekhov’s nineteenth century classic to contemporary Russia, drawing out the play’s pointed humor and restlessness. This is Chekhov for the 21st century.

All levels of experience are welcome to audition. Freshmen are especially encouraged.

Auditions: Saturday November 17, 2-6pm in Kohlberg 115
Callbacks and further auditions: Sunday November 18, 2-6pm in Kohlberg 115
Additional Audition time and callbacks will be on Monday, November 19 9:30-11:30pm in Kohlberg 115

Sign up for an audition slot on the sign up sheet outside the Department of Theater’s office (LPAC 13)

Please come dressed in shoes and clothing that you can move freely in, and be ready to read one or two scenes from the play. You may pick up the scenes in advance on the shelf outside the Department of Theater’s office (LPAC 13). Feel free to take a look at any translation of THREE SISTERS in the library.

Practical information about the production:
Three Sisters will be performed in Pearson Hall Theater in LPAC on April 5-7, 2013.
Production Ensemble is a one-credit course (Thea 22) and fulfills one of the requirements for the major and minor.

BIOS
Anton Chekhov (1860 –1904) was a major Russian playwright and master of the modern short story. His four final plays, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, The Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard are considered pinnacles in modern drama.

Benedict Andrews is an Australian author, adaptor and director. He was Resident Director of the Sidney Theatre Company and has directed at the English National Opera, the Barbican and the Young Vic in London.

Richard Hamburger served fifteen years as Artistic Director at Dallas Theater Center and is now DTC’s first Artistic Director Emeritus. He has directed a wide range of classic and contemporary plays, including new work by Octavio Solis, Lynn Siefert, Erik Ehn, Eric Overmyer, and Chay Yew, among others. Mr. Hamburger served for five years as Artistic Director of Portland Stage Company. He has directed at Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage, The Acting Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, California Shakespeare Festival, American Place Theatre, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, and Great Lakes Theater Festival, where he served as Associate Director. Mr. Hamburger has written two plays: Memory of Whiteness, produced at the American Place Theatre and Family Face, mounted at the O’Neill Center’s National Playwrights Conference. He was awarded a Rockefeller Grant in playwriting and has held fellowships at the Albee Foundation and the Virginia Center for the Arts. He served on the faculties of the Juilliard Theatre Center and Circle in the Square Theatre School, on numerous panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, and as a panelist for the Whiting Foundation. Mr. Hamburger also directed the critically acclaimed version of THE SOUND OF MUSIC for The Salzburg Marionette Theater which is currently on a world wide tour. Most recently he directed Alan Ayckbourn’s MY WONDERFUL DAY and Sam Shepard’s CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS for Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater.