Area students participate in Ripon College comedy production

The production will open at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4, in Benstead Theatre, C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts, on the Ripon College campus. The show also will run at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5; and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7. Ticket information is available by calling 920-748-8791.

The widely acclaimed comedy play Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, by Christopher Durang, will open the 2017-18 theatre season at Ripon College.

It is one of the most lauded and beloved Broadway plays of recent years. Some of the show's elements are humorous adaptations of themes from works of Anton Chekhov. Vanya and his adopted sister Sonia live a quiet life in the Pennsylvania farmhouse where they grew up, but their peace is disturbed when their movie star sister Masha returns unannounced with her 20-something boy toy, Spike. A weekend of rivalry, regret and raucousness begins.

The play won numerous awards, including the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play; Outer Circle Critics Award for Best Play; Drama League Award for Best Production of a Play; Drama Desk Award for Best Play; New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Production; and Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Play.