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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 2019)
A10 • Friday, February 8, 2019 | Cannon Beach Gazette | CannonBeachGazette.com ‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’: a comedy about connections By NANCY MCCARTHY Cannon Beach Gazette Vanya bemoans a lost past. Sonia laments that she is a “wild turkey.” Masha lusts after what could have been. No one is satisfi ed with their lives. But they are connected by the ultimate tie that binds: the family tie. Their story is told in the play “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” which opened at the Coaster The- atre Playhouse Feb. 1 and runs weekends through Feb. 23. Winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play, the comedy was written by Christopher Durang, who incorporated references from Anton Chekhov’s plays. It takes place in the morning room of a farm- house in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Vanya and his adopted sister, Sonia, grew up in the home and took care of their parents, who both suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for 15 years. Now alone and wonder- ing what happened to their lives, they are visited by their older sister, Masha, a glamorous screen and stage star, who brings along her lover, the much younger Spike. Director Susi Brown, who has directed several productions at the Coaster, says the play is “very much about family and the sense of home.” “Every family has their squabbles and moments of pulling together … and I think Durang has really explored that in terms of fi nding and creating two middle-aged, very dissat- isfi ed people with the way their lives have turned out — or not turned out,” Brown said. The play is also about choices. “Sometimes choices are foisted upon us; we Cast members Gigi Chadwick, Rick Grey and Sheila Shaff er. IF YOU GO What: “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” Where: Coaster The- atre Playhouse When: Perfor- mances weekends through Feb. 23 don’t make those choices,” Brown said. “I think that is very much the case of Sonia and Vanya. I don’t think they ever considered there was a choice to take care of their parents or not, they just did. I don’t think they saw a way out. “Masha, on the other hand, is the oldest — that says something about mak- ing choices. She did make choices. But she has regret- ted some of her choices because, I believe, it has Bob Kroll Photography Rick Grey, Katrina Godderz and Daric Moore in “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.” made her into a person she didn’t want to be. It took this visit home to fi gure that out.” Knotty problems While the siblings become entangled in their familial ties, three other characters present some knotty problems of their own. 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But Cassandra, the cleaning lady who accu- rately prophesizes the fam- ily’s future with elaborate pronouncements or short outbursts, adds a supernatu- ral element to the play. “She’s the foreshad- ower,” said Katrina God- derz, who plays Cassandra. “She’s an impartial observer of the family, but she cares about them. So she’s some- body, who, in a sense, ties them together.” Although there are ref- erences to Checkhov plays, those who haven’t seen or read the writer’s works won’t have trouble follow- ing “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.” The cast includes expe- rienced actors: Rick Gray (Vanya) is new to the Coaster, but has an exten- sive background in regional and professional theater; Sheila Shaffer (Sonia) and Gigi Chadwick (Masha) have performed in numer- ous Coaster plays, and Shaf- fer has directed several. 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