The Doctor is In at Third Avenue Playhouse

What do you get when you combine the irresistible comedy of America’s premiere playwright, Neil Simon, with the insightful and bittersweet humor of Russia’s most famous playwright, Anton Chekhov? An evening of theatre that’s guaranteed to bring laughter to your face and warmth to your heart. Doug Mancheski returns to TAP for eight performances of Neil Simon’s The Good Doctor, April 3 – 6 and 10 – 13. Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30 pm. Sunday matinees are at 2 pm.

Adapted from and suggested by stories by Chekhov, The Good Doctor is an elegantly woven series of vignettes which deal with subjects of everyday life that bring both entertainment and enlightenment. In one sketch titled “The Defenseless Creature,” a woman wreaks havoc as she storms the bank to regain her husband’s 24 rubles and 36 kopecks. In another, “The Arrangement,” a father takes his son to a house where he will be initiated into the mysteries of manhood. A church sexton visits the dentist in “Surgery” only to have to deal with a "dentist-to-be." And don’t forget the classic tale of a man who offers to drown himself for three rubles. These whimsical stories and many more are told with infectious humor and fun.

Henry Timm, who directs the piece, says, “We regularly think of Chekhov as a dramatist, but he was primarily a short story writer, and his stories are powerful. Trained as a doctor, he saw the human condition from a unique perspective, with enormous compassion and humor and, occasionally, with a tinge of dark comedy that is almost Kafka-esque.”

Mancheksi, who performed in a 2002 production of The Good Doctor at TAP joins an ensemble cast including Henry Timm as the Writer/Narrator and Chekhov’s alter ego, Bill Bauernfeind, Amy Ensign, Renee Kujawski, Keith Pieschek and Anne St. Henry.

Laughter is always the best medicine, so let The Good Doctor cure what ails you!

Tickets for The Good Doctor are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and students and $8 for children under12. Tickets are on sale at the theater box office 239 N. Third Avenue, Sturgeon Bay, 920.743.1760. Box office hours are 10 am – 3 pm, Monday through Friday and one hour prior to performances. Tickets are also available at the Dancing Bear, 13 N. Third Avenue and on-line at http://www.ThirdAvenuePlayhouse.com.