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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON FEBRUARY 26, PLEASE

CONCORD THEATRICALS
ACQUIRES LICENSING RIGHTS FOR
HEIDI SCHRECK’S
TRANSLATION AND ADAPTATION OF ANTON CHEKHOV’S
“UNCLE VANYA”

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New York, NY (February 26, 2025) – Concord Theatricals is delighted to announce that it has secured exclusive worldwide English language stage licensing rights to Heidi Schreck’s translation and adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya for its Samuel French imprint. For more information, visit concordsho.ws/UncleVanya.

“I’m thrilled to be teaming up again with Concord Theatricals, my publishing home for almost two decades,” said Schreck. “Living with Uncle Vanya and Anton Chekhov right now—in particular with the profoundly resilient character of Sonya—has given me more compassion for our poor confused species. I’m indebted to my brilliant colleague Tatyana Khaikin for helping me parse the nuances of Chekhov’s language in an attempt to create a translation that feels contemporary and alive.”

“Heidi’s haunting translation and adaptation of Chekhov’s classic feels contemporary in its raw humanity, heart, and humor,” said Amy Rose Marsh, Senior Vice President, Acquisitions and Artistic Development (Worldwide) at Concord Theatricals. “We are thrilled to be continuing our relationship with her brilliant writing, following the artistic and commercial success of Grand Concourse and What the Constitution Means to Me.”

First published in Russian in 1897, Uncle Vanya is a timeless tragedy that remains strikingly resonant with audiences today. Schreck, having lived in Russia and studied the language in college, translated the play herself, delivering a version that both stays true to Chekhov, yet lives within a contemporary context.

Humorous and devastating, the play centers around Sonia and her uncle Vanya, who have spent their lives managing the family farm in isolation. Their lives are upended when her father, a celebrated academic, and his charismatic wife arrive. In the heat of the summer, the wrong people fall in love, aspirations and desires erupt, and the family is forced to reckon with their own disappointment and resentment. Schreck’s translation and adaptation is remarkably immediate and pairs Chekhov’s enduring masterpiece with one of America’s most celebrated contemporary playwrights.

The premiere of Schreck’s translation and adaptation opened at Lincoln Center Theater’s Vivian Beaumont Theater on Broadway on April 24, 2024 for a limited run through June 16. The Broadway production was directed by Lila Neugebauer, and starred celebrated actors Steve Carrell, Alison Pill, Alfred Molina, Anika Noni Rose, and William Jackson Harper.

Uncle Vanya marks Schreck’s second visit to Broadway, after her Tony Award® nominated play, What the Constitution Means to Me, which she wrote and starred in, opened on March 31, 2019. Represented by Concord Theatricals, The New York Times reported that the title was the most produced play at professional theatres in the U.S. in 2023. Additional Schreck titles that Concord Theatricals represents include Grand Concourse, Creature, and The Consultant.

The New York Times called Shreck’s work a “faithful yet colloquial new version…” with Variety adding that it “is as entertaining as it is heartbreaking and profound.” “This translation sounds as natural to the present day as about anything else on Broadway,” proclaimed The Guardian, with The Los Angeles Times highlighting the “vibrancy and relaxed fluency of Schreck’s translation.”

BIOGRAPHIES

Concord Theatricals is the world’s most significant theatrical company, comprising the catalogs of R&H Theatricals, Samuel French, Tams-Witmark and The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, plus dozens of new signings each year. Our unparalleled roster includes the work of Irving Berlin, Agatha Christie, George & Ira Gershwin, Marvin Hamlisch, Lorraine Hansberry, Kander & Ebb, Tom Kitt, Ken Ludwig, Marlow & Moss, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anaïs Mitchell, Dominique Morisseau, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Thornton Wilder and August Wilson. We are the only firm providing truly comprehensive services to creators and producers of plays and musicals, including theatrical licensing, music publishing, script publishing, cast recording and first-class producing. As a producer and record label, the company has won three Tony Awards and two GRAMMY Awards in the past five years. www.concordtheatricals.com

Heidi Schreck is a writer and performer living in Brooklyn. Her critically-acclaimed play What the Constitution Means to Me played an extended, sold-out run on Broadway in 2019, and was nominated for two Tony Awards. A filmed version of the play premiered on Amazon Prime Video, and was nominated for a Critics Choice Award, a PGA Award and DGA Award. What the Constitution Means to Me was named Best of the Year by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Time Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, The New Yorker and more. Schreck’s other plays Grand Concourse, Creature, and There Are No More Big Secrets have also been produced in NYC and all over the country. Most recently, she created a new translation and adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya for the Broadway production at Lincoln Center. Screenwriting credits include I Love Dick, Billions, Nurse Jackie, Dispatches from Elsewhere. She is the recipient of three Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and a Theatre World Award; as well as the Horton Foote Playwriting Award and the Hull-Warriner Award from the Dramatists Guild. Schreck was awarded Smithsonian Magazine’s 2019 American Ingenuity Award, for her work in the Performing Arts.

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