ROCKPORT — The Everyman Repertory Theatre will host a question and answer session with the cast and crew of its latest main stage production, the Maine premiere of the comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, at the Camden Opera House on Sunday, Sept. 14.

"The play is much more complex and layered than we first thought when we bought the rights back in January this year," commented Paul Hodgson, the show's director. "It's not just the title that takes a long time to say, the play took a while to unravel itself for us!

On first read it seemed like a simple and very funny comedy, but as we have worked through it in rehearsal it has opened up to be about so many things, working on so many different layers – from family drama to serious commentary on modern life to the contest between young and old to deeply layered literary parody.

Whole lines and scenes have been lifted from Chekhov's four main comedies and been Durangified, if I can coin a word. Adoption, sibling jealousy, homosexuality, repression are all dealt with comedically.

A harangue towards the end of the play lambasts modern media in a way that will split the audience down the middle, with some cheering and some booing. There are moments of aching sadness and stomach-holding hilarity, often on the same page. Provocative this play is, and it should make for a great Q&A session."

If you can't make it to the Q&A session on Sunday, Sept. 14, there are plenty of other opportunities to see the show, on 13, 19, 20, 21 September. An extra Friday performance was added on the final weekend because of the demand for tickets. Evening performances are at 7 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

Tickets are available at www.everymanrep.org, or by calling 207.236.0173. As well as at local retail venues: Owl and Turtle and HAVII in Camden, the Reading Corner, Rockland, and Bella Books, Belfast. Tickets are $25, or $20 if purchased in advance. Student tickets are available at $10.