When Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker undertook writing a new adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, her goal was to create “a version that sounds to our contemporary American ears the way the play sounded to Russian ears during the play’s first productions in the provinces in 1898.” The result is an intimate, immersive adaptation that brings colloquial language to this internationally beloved story of human relationships and yearning. Baker’s Uncle Vanya will take the stage on Friday and Saturday, March 4th and 5th at 7:30pm as part of the Academy of Music Theater’s 2015-2016 Season Series.

Baker grew up in Amherst and has become a darling of the American theater scene in recent years, with plays including Body Awareness, Circle Mirror Transformation, and The Flick, and awards including the Steinberg Playwright Award, an Obie Award for Playwriting, and the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Directed by Linda McInerney and featuring an exceptional cast of Pioneer Valley actors, her Uncle Vanya introduces 21st century audiences to Chekhov’s enduring wit, insight, and emotional depth, grappling with the ever-resonant issues of environment, class, and the human condition.

The press have lauded Baker’s adaptation as “wholly absorbing” (Time Out New York), “devastatingly beautiful” (The Village Voice), and filled with “astonishing verbal magic” (The Paris Review). Its 2013 premiere at New York’s Soho Rep Theatre won the 2013 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play. The Academy’s production design will reflect the simplicity and intimacy suggested by Baker’s script. Daniel Popowich, Myka Plunkett, and Susanna Apgar take on the leading roles of Vanya, Yelena, and Sonya, respectively, alongside cast members Jeannine Haas, Thom Griffin, Bill Dwight, Linda Putnam, and Bill Stewart.

Tickets are $25 plus service fees and are available through the Academy’s Box Office at 274 Main St., Northampton, by phone at 413-584-9032 ext. 105, and online at http://www.aomtheatre.com. Uncle Vanya is sponsored by Baystate Health, Select Equity Group Foundation, Teddy Bear Pools, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Northampton Cooperative Bank, Fink & Perras Insurance, and the Daily Hampshire Gazette.