Chekhov and Balances

So far, the Denver Center Theatre Company’s new season has focused on classics — or close enough — with a new rendition of an old musical (The Unsinkable Molly Brown) and an in-the-round adaptation of one of the world’s most-read dystopian novels, Lord of the Flies. So maybe it’s time to cue up a black comedy? The DCTC’s staging of Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike should provide some roll-in-the-aisles comic relief when it opens at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the Ricketson Theatre. Granted, Vanya, too, is something of a classic, with roots in Chekhov and Tony-winning cred, but it’s definitely a different experience.

“I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun working on a play,” says Sam Gregory, who plays Vanya. “The script is a brilliant mashup of all things Chekhovian, as presented through Durang’s uniquely absurd and hilarious perspective. We spent a lot of time in rehearsal trying not to laugh.”

See what happens when Vanya’s celebrity sister Masha brings home her Hollywood boyfriend, Spike; Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spikeruns through November 16 in the Ricketson, located in the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Tickets start at $41; reserve yours online at denvercenter.org or call 303-893-4100.

Fridays, Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays, 1:30 p.m.; Tuesdays-Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. Starts: Oct. 10. Continues through Nov. 16, 2014