‘Uncle Vanya’ opens PTTP spring season

'Uncle Vanya' by Anton Chekhov, with Mic Matarrese as Uncle Vanya

2:09 p.m., April 6, 2005--UD's Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) continues with its 2004-05 season at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 16, in Hartshorn Hall with Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. The classic will be presented in rotating repertory, in which two or more plays are presented on an alternating schedule with the same actors, with William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, which premieres Wednesday, April 20.

The performances will be presented by 24 actors, 10 technical directors and six stage managers, who are enrolled at PTTP for three years of concentrated training.

Uncle Vanya is a masterpiece of modern drama, in which a disruptive visit by an ailing professor and his very young and beautiful second wife to his provincial Russian estate sets off an escalating spiral of both humorous and tragic events for the members of the household and their associates. Sonya, the professor’s daughter from his first marriage, and her Uncle Vanya, both having given up their lives to manage the estate, must deal with the painful recognition that their aspirations, hopes and desires are nothing more than mere illusions.

In Much Ado About Nothing, a military war has just ended, but the "merry war" between the confirmed bachelor Benedick and the haughty lady Beatrice rages on in a cascade of wit. Can their friends trick them into falling in love instead? Can the devotion of their friend Claudio and his fiancee Hero survive the evil Don John’s vicious lies? Will the bumbling constable Dogberry save the day so that the course of true love may yet run smooth?

Ten performances of Uncle Vanya are slated:

Saturday, April 16, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.;
Thursday, April 21, 7:30 p.m.;
Friday, April 22, 7:30 p.m.;
Wednesday, April 27, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.;
Saturday, April 30, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.;
Thursday, May 5, 7:30 p.m.; and
Friday, May 6, 7:30 p.m.

Ten performances of Much Ado About Nothing are scheduled for:

Wednesday, April 20, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.;
Saturday, April 23, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.;
Tuesday, April 26, 7:30 p.m.;
Thursday, April 28, 7:30 p.m.;
Friday, April 29, 7:30 p.m.;
Sunday, May 1, 2 p.m.; and
Wednesday, May 4, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

'Much Ado About Nothing' by William Shakespeare, with Paul Hurly as Benedick and Heidi-Marie Ferron as Beatrice

A “Meet The Company” reception will be held after the 7:30 p.m. performance on Saturday, April 16, and Wednesday, April 20.

PTTP students are selected once every four years to pursue master’s degrees in fine arts. The group is chosen through an extensive search throughout the United States in the year between the graduation of one class and the beginning of the next class. Training is focused on plays from the classic repertoire and the program seeks students who are particularly interested in the classics.

UD’s theatre department offers a bachelor’s degree in theatre production for students interested in learning about costume production, stage management and technical production. The students' practical experiences include participating in the production of PTTP plays. The department also offers a theatre minor, designed to give students a foundation in the viewing of theatre, as well as the art and craft of the theatre.

For more information and to order tickets, visit [www.udel.edu/theatre], call (302) 831-2204, e-mail [pttp-boxoffice@udel.edu] or stop by the Hartshorn Box Office.

Article by Martin Mbugua
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson

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