Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Act One

In their family home in Bucks County, siblings Vanya (gay and unhappy) and Sonia (adopted and bitter) are getting ready for the day. Sonia brings Vanya his usual cup of coffee, but Vanya already has one, which he claims tastes better. Frustrated, Sonia smashes both mugs against the wall, beginning the first of many to fights that will ensue over the course of the upcoming weekend. Eventually, the two siblings come to an understanding, though they leave the broken mugs still shattered on the floor. Sonia and Vanya have never had to fend for themselves, instead living in their now-dead parents’ house and paying their bills with money from their more successful sister, Masha. Nonetheless, they relish in bemoaning their uneventful lives, their tiny cherry orchard, and their mere existence.

Cassandra, the maid, arrives, already disturbed by premonitional visions (the usual state of being for the Cassandra of this play, and the Cassandra of Ancient Greek literature). As she