Obie-Winner Roberta Maxwell to Join Soho Rep's UNCLE VANYA, 7/25

Soho Rep, in association with John Adrian Selzer, is pleased to announce that OBIE Award-winner Roberta Maxwell will join the cast of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya on Wednesday, July 25, replacing Rebecca Schull as Maria.

In the Annie Baker version of the Chekhov play, directed by Sam Gold, Maxwell will assume the role of Vanya's mother and the professor's first wife. Her part in this world premiere follows her performances in films such as Brokeback Mountain and Dead Man Walking as well as career of Theater Productions, including originating the role of Jill Mason in the debut of Peter Schaffer's Equus, in 1974. Rebecca Schull will play her final performance as Maria, mother of Vanya and the professor's first wife, on Sunday, July 22, at which point she will have occupied the role for the entirety of the initially announced run and the first extension. She must leave to attend to previously made commitments.

The July 25 – August 26 period in which Maxwell performs is the second extension of the tremendously acclaimed production. The initial six weeks and first extension have sold out.

Chekhov's Uncle Vanya reunites Baker and Gold, whose previous collaborations include The Aliens and Circle Mirror Transformation.

The cast also features Peter Friedman (Circle Mirror Transformation and After the Revolution at Playwrights Horizons, Twelve Angry Men on Broadway, Tony Award nomination for Ragtime) as Serebryakov, a retired professor; Maria Dizzia (Tony Award nominee for In the Next Room…, Eurydice at Second Stage; Film: Martha Marcy May Marlene) as Yelena, his wife; Merritt Wever (The Illusion at The Signature Theatre, Touch(ed) at Williamstown Theatre Festival; TV: Nurse Jackie) as Sonya, his daughter from his first marriage; Roberta Maxwell (Our Town, Equus and Othello on Broadway; Film: Dead Man Walking, Brokeback Mountain, Philadelphia) as Maria, mother of the professor's first wife and Vanya; Michael Shannon (Bug, Our Town and Mistakes Were Made at Barrow Street; Film: Academy Award nominee for Revolutionary Road, Take Shelter, TV: Boardwalk Empire) as Astrov, a doctor; Matthew Maher (Orange, Hat & Grace and LEAR at Soho Rep, A Doll's House at Williamstown Theatre Festival; Film: It's Kind of a Funny Story)as Telegin, an impoverished landowner; Paul Thureen (Buddy Cop 2 and Cape Disappointment with The Debate Society) as Yefim, a hired man/night watchman; and Georgia Engel (TV: The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Middletown at the Vineyard, The Drowsy Chaperone on Broadway) as Marina, an old nanny.

The production features set design by Andrew Lieberman, costume design by Baker, lighting design by Mark Barton, sound design by Matt Tierney and fight direction by Thomas Schall. For her version of the play, Baker worked off a literal translation by Margarita Shalina, trying to unearth the grammar and colloquialisms omitted in existing English translations.

*Please note: There will be no performance on Friday, July 27. There is an added matinee performance on Sunday, July 29 at 3:00 P.M. On Sunday, August 12, Soho Rep will host an additional and final 99¢ Sunday for Uncle Vanya.

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