KRCB-FM: Second Row Center

I don’t know anyone who attends theatre to reinforce their belief that life is simply a series of travails to be endured until the sweet release of death, but if you’re out there, have I got show for you. Birdbath Theatres is presenting Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in a new adaptation by Jesse Brownstein, directed by David Abrams and playing at The Belrose through November 18. Vanya (Rob Garcia) and his niece Sonya (Winona Wagner) manage the small estate of his late sister where they live with the family matriarch Mariya (Molly Noble), an old family nurse (Shirley Nilsen Hall), and a guitar-playing family friend (Andrew Byars). The estate’s meager proceeds have gone to support his late sister’s husband Professor Serebryakov (Ray Martin) and his new trophy wife Yelena (Claire Champommier). A perpetually infirmed Serebryakov, after spending the summer at the estate, has come to a decision. He wishes to sell the estate to come up with enough money to purchase a nice retirement cottage in Finland for him and hi