A 21st-century comedy presented by Olympic Theatre Arts

When: June 9-25, 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays

Where: Olympic Theatre Arts Center, 414 N. Sequim Ave.

Tickets: on sale online at www.olympictheatrearts.org or through the theater box office, open 1-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Contact: 683-7326

Olympic Theatre Arts is ending its Main Stage season this year with a bang.

For its final production of the 2016-2017 season, director Jim Guthrie and his cast present “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” a Tony Award-winning 21st-century comedy written by playwright Christopher Durang.

The story revolves around three middle-aged siblings, Vanya, Sonia and Masha, and their dysfunctional relationships with one another.

Siblings Sonia and Vanya, played by Sara Nicholls and Ron Graham, live together at the ancestral family residence in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with their cleaning woman Cassandra played by Jennifer Horton, who has “visions” and makes prophecies no one believes.

When movie star sister Masha, played by Angela Poynter, shows up at the family residence with her 29-year-old “boy toy” Spike, it makes for one big hilarious family.

“We’re both fans of Christopher Durang,” Graham said of himself and his wife Poynter.

“His sense of humor is just about as sick and twisted as ours is,” Graham laughed.

“For an actor, it’s just a gift to get these kinds of characters,” Poynter said.

The dialogue between the modern characters is synonymous with conversations audience members might have with their siblings outside the theater. Guthrie refers to the play as what his drama professors would call, “a comedy of manners.”

“Because of Durang’s dark and quirky sense of humor, those manners include a healthy helping of bad — in fact, bad manners in this play out-number the good,” Guthrie said.

Guthrie added that many of the characters’ names — Vanya, Sonia and Masha — in this play are influenced from Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. There also are several situations in the story that are Chekhovian although the original playwright and Guthrie say the audience does not need to know Chekhov to enjoy it.

“The most important thing is that Durang is just plain funny,” Guthrie said in an Olympic Theatre Arts press release.

“I almost guarantee if (attendees) don’t see themselves as one of the characters in the play, they’re going to definitely see somebody they know,” Graham said.

The comedy opens June 9 and runs for three weekends through June 25 with showings at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays at the Olympic Theatre Arts Center, 414 N. Sequim Ave.

Tickets are now on sale online at www.olympictheatrearts.org or through the theater box office, open 1-5 p.m., Monday-Friday.

For more information, contact the office at 683-7326.

Ron Graham playing the role of Vanya, left, acts out a scene with fellow cast members Jennifer Horton playing the role of Cassandra and Sara Nicholls playing the role of Sonia. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins

Sara Nicholls playing the role of Sonia, left, acts out a scene with cast siblings Ron Graham playing Vanya and Angela Poynter playing the role of Masha. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins