Director's Note
Life is…tough. Anton Chekhov once said, “any idiot can face a crisis- it’s the day-to-day living that wears you out.”
In a rapidly changing world, it is easy to cling to the past, convincing ourselves that what has been was better than what is. While that could very well be true, it doesn’t shape the present. In constantly turning our focus to the way things were, we get lost in the shadows of moments we can no longer influence. Either we are swept away by romantic notions of how life used to be, or we bind ourselves to stale regret, guilt, and a desire to have behaved differently than we did. In both instances, we do a disservice to our evolution. The past is unchangeable; applying lessons learned, we honor history and help shape an inevitable future.
In “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” Christopher Durang examines a family that has gotten stuck in the past in the same way your shoe might be stuck to the pavement by a piece of gum. There is forward momentum, maybe, but never a clean step in a new direction. By allowing light and a sense of humor to permeate the musty wounds and experiences of our past, we can begin to free ourselves from its bondage.
There are many parallels to being part of a family and being part of a country. We are either born into one, choose to be a part of one, or are brought into one when we find ourselves without. Fellow citizens, like siblings, may not always be people we’ve chosen to share space with. If we cement each other and our world into who we were at one moment in time, we begin to collect dust and become irrelevant. Humanity is a contract we cannot escape, shaped by our discoveries and choices. We can choose to surround ourselves with and reflect love or hate. Both require effort, but one brings life and the other, death.
We go to the theatre to examine our lives from a safe distance. You have come to see this play not to examine your life, but to witness other people examine theirs. From this vantage point, tucked away in the dark, you end up seeing yourself, or part of yourself, in the characters in front of you. What I hope you see in front of you, and reflected back at you, is an opportunity to constantly reacquaint yourself with the people in your life- and that means everyone that you share this planet with. Allow space for people to change, even if you can’t imagine that possibility. It may seem like the family of our country and our world is damaged beyond repair, but if we can allow a little laugher into the cracks that cement our ideas of what is, we might find the things that once drove us apart aren’t as permanent as we thought. It may turn out in the end that we can all enjoy this family we have been thrust into. It takes each of us to do that work, or no one can evolve.
I thank my siblings, and you, my brothers and sisters, for allowing me the space to learn, grow, and change. I love you all. Let’s not alienate each other by who we’ve been, but reconnect through who we are becoming.
Jonathan S. Verge
“Time will pass, and we shall go away forever, and be forgotten. Our faces will be forgotten, our voices, and how many there were of us; but our sufferings will pass into joy for those who will live after us, happiness and peace will be established upon earth, and they will remember kindly and bless those who have lived before.”
-Anton Chekhov
“Laughter can bring a new perspective.” -Christopher Durang
Special Thanks
George McAvoy passed away in 2022 but was a pillar of our community and our country for eight decades. He received a Presidential Unit Citation for "Extraordinary Heroism” in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII, was a long-time member of the Masons, Elks, VFW, Rotary, Veterans of Foreign War, and All Saints Church, giving countless hours to these organizations and the people they support.
George and his wife, Rita Cloutier McAvoy, ran the Thayer’s Inn for 20 years, then Crawford House, and the Mt Washington Hotel. He was appointed to the National Defense Executive Reserve along with NH state appointments. His commitment to the area is unparalleled.
George worked with other community leaders to leave a significant legacy for the people in and around Littleton, including: organizing the Littleton Industrial Development Corporation, which led to the 380-acre Industrial Park; organizing Peoples National Bank, now Mascoma Bank; initiating with Ken Curran the Curran-McAvoy causeway on I-93; bringing snowmaking to Cannon Mountain; and renaming the "Veterans Memorial Bridge," establishing it as a memorial to recognize soldiers from Littleton who died in battle, with a plaque on the bridge for each soldier.
George authored three books, and we believe he would be thrilled to know that he is still supporting the arts today. We are incredibly grateful to his daughter, Suzanne McAvoy Hopgood, for providing this sponsorship on her father’s behalf to support Theatre UP and all involved in the creation of our production of “Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike.”
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