"A Play About Love and Longing"
by Keith Martin
BOONE, N.C. – Although the play premiered in 2015, the Department of Theatre and Dance at Appalachian State University is proud to present the High Country premiere of "Life Sucks." by multi-award winning playwright, Aaron Posner. The production takes place at 7 p.m. from Wednesday through Saturday, October 1 through 4, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, October 5.
All performances are in the Valborg Theatre on the university's Boone campus, located at 480 Howard Street in Boone, NC 28608. Tickets are $10 for students, $15 for faculty/staff, and $17 for adults and are now available online through the T&D department website, as well by phone or in person at the Schaefer Center for the Arts.
Adapted by Aaron Posner, this is a play about love and longing. In this contemporary reworking of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, a group of old friends, ex-lovers, estranged in-laws, and lifelong frenemies gather to grapple with life's thorniest questions, the state of the world, and each other. Over drinks, fights, and moments of intimacy, seven souls collide as they stumble through life concluding that "Life Sucks." Or does it? Seriously, what does life do?
Aaron Posner, photo by American Players Theatre
Posner is an American playwright and theatre director. He was co-founder of the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia and was the artistic director of Two River Theater from 2006 to 2010. He has directed over 100 productions at major regional theater companies across the country. He has won six Helen Hayes Awards, two Barrymore Awards, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the John Gassner Prize, a Joseph Jefferson Award, a Bay Area Theatre Award, and an Eliot Norton Award. Currently, Posner is a tenured full professor in the Theatre/Musical Theatre program at American University in Washington, D.C.
The App State production is directed by Ms. Elizabeth C. Parks, assistant professor of theatre arts teaching acting and stage movement in the Department of Theatre and Dance. She is an actor, director, devisor, and voice and movement, and intimacy coach with 16 years of experience teaching theatre and dance. She is a Certified Margolis Method Educator, a Lessac Kinesensics Certified Trainer, and trains with Theatre Nohgaku in the Kita School tradition of Noh theatre. Her work has been publshed by Voice and Speech Review and Play Story Press. Elizabeth is currently working with Kari Margolis and Kym Longhi on the book: Margolis Method: Advancing Embodiment, Craft, and Care in Performance.
In her director's notes for the playbill, Parks notes that the play, "is much more direct than Anton Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya.' While Chekhov is known for subtlety and subtext such that it feels like 'nothing is happening,' Posner's characters are direct about what they want and what they feel. Despite the seeming lack of subtext in this script, an important part of this process was to discover and uncover, with the actors, what remained unsaid by the characters. To tackle this challenge, I turned to James Baldwin's famous quote: "The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions which have been hidden by the answers.
Elizabeth Parks
"The self-assured rants, diatribes, and confessions of the characters suggest that they have all the answers, they know what is right and wrong with the world, and, above all, they know what is right and wrong with other people. Yet, during our 'two hours' traffic on the stage' immense questions emerge. Each character faces their own personal, life-
defining questions to which the answers are not always clear."
In addition to directing the production, Parks is serving as Intimacy Director. The creative and design team for "Life Sucks." includes T&D faculty members Derek Gagnier as fight choreographer, Mike Helms as scenic designer, Mike Riggs as lighting designer, and John Marty as sound designer with students Abby Will and Hadley Brickman as costume designer and stage manager, respectively. T&D staff members Matt Tyson serves as technical director and Kristin Grieneisen supervises the costume shop.
The all student cast includes the following Appalachian State University undergraduates, listed alphabetically: Connor Annan, Casey Choiniere, Rae Foraker, Walker Lyon, Ralph Philips, Valeria Sierra Rey, and Kendall Rhue Wilson.
"Life Sucks." is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. (www.dramatists.com). The content disclosure states that the play contains strong language and sexually explicit language, depictions of physical violence and simulated gun fire, and discussion of suicide, self-harm, and mental illness. It is recommended for audiences 18 years of age or older.
A full listing of the Department of Theatre and Dance Fall 2025 season is available at theatreanddance.appstate.edu. Directions and parking information may be found here.
Media Contact
For media inquiries, please contact Michael Helms, Chair, Theatre and Dance at helmsml@appstate.edu(link sends e-mail), 828-262-7461 or P.J. Wirchansky, CFAA Communication Director, at wirchanskypj@appstate.edu(link sends e-mail), 828-262-7249.
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About the Department of Theatre and Dance
One of seven departments housed in the College of Fine and Applied Arts, the Department of Theatre and Dance's mission is to facilitate transformative experiences for students and the public, which cultivate compassionate, creative, and collaborative communities through theatre and dance. The department also offers coursework for integrated learning through the arts to the general university student population. Its dynamic co-curricular production program provides exemplary theatre and dance experiences to departmental students, the university community, and the region. www.theatreanddance.appstate.edu.
About the College of Fine and Applied Arts
Appalachian State University's College of Fine and Applied Arts is a dynamic and innovative group of seven academic departments, bringing together a variety of perspectives, experiences, and real-world education to provide unique opportunities for student success. The college has more than 3,500 undergraduate and graduate majors. Its departments are Applied Design, Art, Communication, Military Science and Leadership, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Technology and the Built Environment, and Theatre and Dance. Learn more at cfaa.appstate.edu.
About Appalachian State University
As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls nearly 21,798 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio, and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.
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Valborg Theatre thumbnail