A Season of Empathy

The Crazy Uncle Fest

A Celebration of Anton Chekhov

With Crazy Uncle Fest, York Drama is providing its students and audience a rare opportunity, Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya performed alongside the contemporary adaptation, Life Sucks, by Aaron Posner.  Uncle Vanya is one of Chekhov’s four master works, the story of that beloved, crazy uncle we all have. Chekhov serves us a blend of laughs and heartache as we watch Vanya dive into his mid-life crisis with a moment of existential angst. Pulitzer prize winner Annie Baker’s translation is called “funky, fresh” by the New York Times and is praised by the Chicago Tribune for its “contemporary lilt and orientation.” Aaron Posner’s adaptation, Life Sucks, blows that word, contemporary, out of the water, taking the plot of Vanya and knocking down the 4^th wall to include the audience in this exploration of love, loss and longing.  Director, John Forsythe says, “experiencing both productions in a single festival gives the students and audience an opportunity to contrast the comic tragedy of Chekhov, the father of modern theatre, with the tragic comedy of Posner, a playwright who has taken contemporary theatre to a new level.” 

In addition, Crazy Uncle Fest features a unique variety of perspectives.  The festival is directed by York Drama’s John Forsythe, but each play is helmed by a student director.  CeCe Lampa student directs Vanya, and Emma Taylor directs Life Sucks.  The junior girls are aided in individual scenes by a corps of 20 assistant directors, most of whom participated in Mr. Forsythe’s directing class in last summer’s York Drama Conservatory. Mr. Forsythe calls this “the most collaborative experience I’ve ever had in the theatre.”  Uncle Vanya will be performed Thursday and Friday, February 6^th and 7^th, at 7:30.  Life Sucks performances are Saturday February 8^th at 7:30 and Sunday February 9^th at 2:00. All tickets are $10 and will be available beginning January 16^th at 6:00 PM at www.ticketpeak.co/yorkdrama or at York High School’s Baker Auditorium on the night of the show.