A New Translation of Uncle Vanya From Heidi Schreck Is Broadway-Bound

[Voter]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 11:28am

https://playbill.com/article/a-new-translation-of-uncle-vanya-from-heidi-schreck-is-broadway-bound

 

Lincoln Center Theater will stage a production of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, newly translated by Heidi Schreck (What the Constitution Means to Me), on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, with performances beginning April 2, 2024, ahead of an April 24 opening night.

Lila Neugebauer will direct, in her second Main Stem production of the season—she's also staging Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Appropriate for Second Stage later this year. Casting is to be announced.

[Kad]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 11:40am

I love Heidi Schreck but man hasn’t NYC had enough of Uncle Vanya for a while?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 11:43am

Kad said: "I love Heidi Schreck but man hasn’t NYC had enough of Uncle Vanya for a while?"

I loved the OTHER hyper intimate production (Richard Nelson/Jay O. Sanders), missed the Cromer one.

I’ve always thought it might be interesting with an all female cast, which I’m sure has been done someplace.

On paper this does not change my view that LCT is in a baaaad place right now, though perhaps it will be a joyous surprise like SKIN OF OUR TEETH.

[bigbelterbaby]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 11:51am

yeah I feel like this title is over-produced but looking it up it hasn't had a Broadway production since 2000 that starred Laura Linney and Amy Ryan.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 11:58am

I'm actually pretty excited about this!  I saw the hyper intimate version in its second production and I felt like some of that translation left me a bit cold (though it was also my first time seeing the show at all), so I'll be interested to see how this one comes off!

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 12:13pm

Heidi is a treasure and a remarkably kind person if you have the opportunity to meet her. But as much as I adore her...I think it would take a major casting coup or ingenious directorial/design concept to get me excited about yet another Uncle Vanya. It's just done so often. Though I do wonder what style Schreck is taking her translation.

I do think it speaks to LCT desperately trying to stick to titles that audiences will be familiar with to try and drum up ticket sales and donations.

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 12:19pm

This sounds interesting! While I love Heidi Schreck, I am not a fan of Chekov. I won't forget having to read a couple of his plays for my classes and just had to stop cause I became so confused about what I was reading. Hopefully it goes well, though. Great to see Heidi Schreck back in action!

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 12:32pm

MayAudraBlessYou2 said: "I do think it speaks to LCT desperately trying to stick to titles that audiences will be familiar with to try and drum up ticket sales and donations."

I think it has more to do with Andre Bishop's complete and utter fear of going outside the box and being daring and giving newer playwrights a chance on a large scale. The name-familiarity of old plays vs new is so negligible when it comes to ticket sales.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 12:45pm

Looking forward to this - I love Heidi Schreck, and I have never seen the play. The only Chekov play I have seen live was Roundabout's revival of The Cherry Orchard with Diane Lane, and the less said about that, the better.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 12:50pm

I would understand public domain pieces to save money or even a name classic like this IF (they might!) have a MAJOR casting coupe that isn't just "well-regarded theatre actor" but frankly a real movie/tv star but they have to pay Heidi's author fees so it's not saving more money than a new play.

I adore Heidi and pray they take the comedy route. The Cate Blanchett production was flat-out hilarious at points and the subsequent ones (good or bad) have all been slogs towards death. 

[betyourass]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 1:08pm

Color me excited! I love her work and Lila's work. And a FRESH adaptation of this piece - sounds exciting...or so I hope it will be. 

[Kad]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 1:13pm

nasty_khakis said: "I would understand public domain pieces to save money or even a name classic like this IF (they might!) have a MAJOR casting coupe that isn't just "well-regarded theatre actor" but frankly a real movie/tv star but they have to pay Heidi's author fees so it's not saving more money than a new play.

I adore Heidi and pray they take the comedy route. The Cate Blanchett production was flat-out hilarious at points and the subsequent ones (good or bad) have all been slogs towards death."

When I first read any Chekhov play- it was The Cherry Orchard, back in high school- I thought it was often very, very funny. A lot of Chekhov, on the page with a good translation, is very funny! But so much of it is staged as Very Important Drama with a lot of the humor drained away. 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 1:16pm

Uncle Vanya yawnnnn another production of this show feels like we just saw a production only a couple of years ago? Anway, LCT what's happening over there? They need some new leadership as the old farts are losing steam. Get some new blood with fresh creative ideas and bring it back to life!

Updated On: 9/14/23 at 01:16 PM

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 2:07pm

Kad said: "nasty_khakis said: "I would understand public domain pieces to save money or even a name classic like this IF (they might!) have a MAJOR casting coupe that isn't just "well-regarded theatre actor" but frankly a real movie/tv star but they have to pay Heidi's author fees so it's not saving more money than a new play.

I adore Heidi and pray they take the comedy route. The Cate Blanchett production was flat-out hilarious at points and the subsequent ones (good or bad) have all been slogs towards death."

When I first read any Chekhov play- it was The Cherry Orchard, back in high school- I thought it was often very, very funny. A lot of Chekhov, on the page with a good translation, is very funny! But so much of it is staged as Very Important Drama with a lot of the humor drained away."

I've always heard the adage that Chekov (born lower class) thought all these plays about the wealthy losing it all as comedies while Stanislavski (born into privilege) considered them dramas.

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 2:15pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I think it has more to do with Andre Bishop's complete and utter fear of going outside the box and being daring and giving newer playwrights a chance on a large scale. The name-familiarity of old plays vs new is so negligible when it comes to ticket sales."

To be fair, most of the non-revival stuff they've done at the Beaumont over the last decade or so with the exception of Oslo hasn't been terribly well received by audiences or critics (Flying Over Sunset, Junk, Great Society, etc) so I can understand their hesitation.

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 2:23pm

Broadway61004 said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I think it has more to do with Andre Bishop's complete and utter fear of going outside the box and being daring and giving newer playwrights a chance on a large scale. The name-familiarity of old plays vs new is so negligible when it comes to ticket sales."

To be fair, most of the non-revival stuff they've done at the Beaumont over the last decade or so with the exception of Oslo hasn't been terribly well received by audiences or critics (Flying Over Sunset, Junk, Great Society, etc) so I can understand their hesitation."

Great Society wasn't an LCT production, it was a rental (that only I liked apparently)

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 2:42pm

Fordham2015 said: "Great Society wasn't an LCT production, it was a rental (that only I liked apparently)"

I liked it as well!

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 2:48pm

Also, if we’re talking shows programmed by old farts, Flying Over Sunset was some of the old fartiest theatre I’ve seen in all my days. Lincoln Center Theater needs some new blood.

That being said, if they’re going the classics route, I loved The Skin of Our Teeth and a lot can be done with a dusty piece of theatre if you have the right director (and, in the case of Vanya, translator). Lila Neugebauer and Heidi Schreck are a formidable duo, and seeing “sets by Mimi Lien” always gets me excited, so there’s a good chance this could be a pleasant surprise.

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 2:50pm

Fordham2015 said: "Broadway61004 said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I think it has more to do with Andre Bishop's complete and utter fear of going outside the box and being daring and giving newer playwrights a chance on a large scale. The name-familiarity of old plays vs new is so negligible when it comes to ticket sales."

To be fair, most of the non-revival stuff they've done at the Beaumont over the last decade or so with the exception of Oslo hasn't been terribly well received by audiences or critics (Flying Over Sunset, Junk, Great Society, etc) so I can understand their hesitation."

Great Society wasn't an LCT production, it was a rental (that only I liked apparently)"

Ah, forgot that was a rental. But still, Ann, Act One, Junk, Sunset--none of them really caught on (which is not to say they weren't any good, just that they didn't have anywhere near the success that some of the revivals did. So it makes business sense that they choose to focus on those instead of taking chances on new works right now).

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 2:53pm

I love Uncle Vanya but add me to the chorus of "Why?" Like, seriously, who is this for?

BTW check out the filmed stage production of the recent Conor McPherson adaptation. It's on Broadway HD and is absolutely wonderful.

[Kad]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 3:07pm

The fact that Flying Over Sunset made it all the way to the Beaumont should be reason enough to be very skeptical of LCT’s ability to develop new work for that space. It’s baffling, considering they regularly put up quite good new work on their two smaller stages. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 3:43pm

Kad said: "The fact that Flying Over Sunset made it all the way to the Beaumont should be reason enough to be very skeptical of LCT’s ability to develop new work for that space. It’s baffling, considering they regularly put up quite good new work on their two smaller stages."

How it made it to the Beaumont without a stop at the Newhouse or a regional theatre first baffles me. And that they had 18 months to improve the show between final dress and 1st preview, and it still arrived a mess.

The dinosaurs need to be phased out. That's not to say that people CAN'T be at the top of their games over 75, but there's a lot of Broadway power held by people in their late 70s to 80s: Andre Bishop, Lynn Meadow, Carole Rothman, Robert Wankel, Charlotte St. Martin, Cameron Mackintosh, Daryl Roth, Jeffrey Richards, Roy Furman, Nelle Nugent, Robyn Goodman, writers & directors like ALW, Jerry Zaks, Jack O'Brien, Dan Sullivan, David Mamet, James Lapine (almost)....etc.

Updated On: 9/14/23 at 03:43 PM

[JasonC3]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 3:59pm

Kad said: "I love Heidi Schreck but man hasn’t NYC had enough of Uncle Vanya for a while?"

Magic 8-Ball says:

"You better ****in' believe it has!"

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 4:03pm

nasty_khakis said: "Kad said: "nasty_khakis said: "I would understand public domain pieces to save money or even a name classic like this IF (they might!) have a MAJOR casting coupe that isn't just "well-regarded theatre actor" but frankly a real movie/tv star but they have to pay Heidi's author fees so it's not saving more money than a new play.

I adore Heidi and pray they take the comedy route. The Cate Blanchett production was flat-out hilarious at points and the subsequent ones (good or bad) have all been slogs towards death."

When I first read any Chekhov play- it was The Cherry Orchard, back in high school- I thought it was often very, very funny. A lot of Chekhov, on the page with a good translation, is very funny! But so much of it is staged as Very Important Drama with a lot of the humor drained away."

I've always heard the adage that Chekov (born lower class) thought all these plays about the wealthy losing it all as comedies whileStanislavski (born into privilege) considered them dramas."

Let's not forget that Chekhov wrote a number of out-and-out comedies, as well.  I once performed one of his farces for a One Act Play competition - the guy can be a really funny writer even at his darkest.

[Voter]

Posted: 9/14/23 at 4:24pm

Kad said: 

The dinosaurs need to be phased out. That's not to say that people CAN'T be at the top of their games over 75, but there's a lot of Broadway power held by people in their late 70s to 80s: Andre Bishop, Lynn Meadow, Carole Rothman, Robert Wankel, Charlotte St. Martin, Cameron Mackintosh, Daryl Roth, Jeffrey Richards, Roy Furman, Nelle Nugent, Robyn Goodman, writers & directors like ALW, Jerry Zaks, Jack O'Brien, Dan Sullivan, David Mamet, James Lapine (almost)....etc."

Seeing this play out these last few years post pandemic.... woof. I think we'll continue to see a changing of the guards happen just due to age. Most people who have made their name in this industry would rather die in their role than admit their time is over.