"A Tragedian in Spite of Himself " & "The Anniversary": plays by Chekhov Creative

DIRECTOR

John DeBenedetto

John is very pleased to be back directing at ATA where he's directed numerous plays, most recently Shaw's "Overruled" and Ibsen's "When We Dead Awaken." He has directed at many other theaters as well including the premiere of "Vino Veritas" at Theater for the New City. He holds an MA in Theater from Hunter College. Thanks, as always, to Rob

Artistic Director

James Jennings

James is the founder of ATA and has produced the works of over 990 new Playwrights. As a Writer he's a recipient of the John Dos Pasos Creative Writing Award. As a director, he won the T.O.R award for Best Director, for the off-Broadway play The Holy Junkie by John Quinn. He also won the "Jean Dalrymple" Award for the Best Director of the play Blood Money, starring Dan Lauria, and he directed Celeste Holm on Broadway in Salute to Clinton. In addition, he directed Harvey Keitel in The Funeral at the Actors Studio, and in his own play, My Father's House. He is a member of the Actors Studio Director/ Playwright Unit and worked with Elia Kazan, Lee Strasberg and Harold Clurman.

Marketing

Alchemy Theatrical Consulting, LLC

ATC is helmed by Jessica Jennings and was created to help theaters and artists with growth and development. ATC has created marketing and ticket platforms for nearly 50 shows in NYC; has helmed the Archive Project for the ATA; has helped secure grant awards for clients. ATC is your go-to for connections in NYC indie theatre scene, Audition Coaching, Stage Direction, Production Management, Dramaturgy, Budgets and Grant Writing. [email protected]

Publicist

Jay Michaels Global Communications, LLC

JMGC is creating visibility for independent theater, film, music, and literature has been the battle-cry of this boutique promotion and production firm for more than 20 years. Through a diverse internal multi-media platform, this communications organization is able to supply guaranteed coverage to hundreds of emerging artists and their productions while growing its external network of promotional sites and groups as well as producing events for the purpose of promotion and marketing to industry and generalized audiences. JMGC has clients on and off-Broadway, in film and television, across the country and around the world. [email protected]

Original Creative Team

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian playwright and master of the modern short story. He was a literary artist of laconic precision who probed below the surface of life, laying bare the secret motives of his characters. Chekhov’s best plays and short stories lack complex plots and neat solutions. Concentrating on apparent trivialities, they create a special kind of atmosphere, sometimes termed haunting or lyrical. He is known for the principle in drama called "Chekhov’s gun," which asserts that every element introduced in a story should be necessary to the plot, and he frequently illustrated the principle by using a gun as an example of an essential element. Chekhov described the Russian life of his time using a deceptively simple technique devoid of obtrusive literary devices, and he is regarded as the outstanding representative of the late 19th-century Russian realist school.