38 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY NOVEMBER 27-DECEMBER 3, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com ONSTAGE Dr. Kheal by Cuban-American playwright Irene Fornés (1930-2018) and Swan Song by Ukrainian-Russian playwright Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) have nothing—and everything—in common. Both are one-act, minimalistic plays. Both are dominated by one male character. But they come from different centuries, different cultures and are of different temperaments. An avant garde absurd comedy from 1968, Dr. Kheal contains itself within a form of a lecture given by a professor, the archetypal genius madman, about all things in life, combining metaphysical babble, obsessions and chillingly significant observations on the human condition. Swan Song, from 1887, is a story of an old actor, Vasili Svietlovidoff, who falls asleep in a dressing room and awakens alone in a Russia that already smells of a revolution. It’s heavier in tone and message than Dr. Kheal. For reasons unknown even to himself, Paul Barber, the show’s co-producer and main actor, had the two plays associated with each other in his head since his college days. A lifelong actor, writer and producer, Barber moved to Carmel circa 2016. “I was walking and I saw [PacRep performing at] the Forest Theater, and it was like seeing a cathedral to me, an ancient, profound thing,” he says. “I wanted in.” Chekhov Or Not seemed a perfect fit for Community Voices, a new series launched by Pacific Repertory Theatre to elevate and empower the creative work of locals. “The company is providing the lights and the space,” says PacRep’s John Newkirk, who serves as the director for Barber’s project, which will be produced on PacRep’s Circle Theatre stage. “The people who come in take responsibility for every other aspect.” Chekhov Or Not is a mash-up of two back-to-back one-acts; Barber will play both main characters. “They look very different and sound very different,” he says about the roles. “Dr. Kheal is profound but also silly. Svietlovidoff is…a very lonely man who then finds somebody to love him and take care of him.” Howard Burnham plays that somebody, Nikitushka Ivanitch. “He is a very simple soul,” Burnham says about Ivanitch. “He is an illiterate peasant, but he has all Shakespeare’s memorized.” Chekhov Or Not.7:30pm Mondays-Wednesdays; 2pm Saturdays, Dec. 1-11. Circle Theatre at Golden Bough Playhouse, Casanova Street between 8th and 9th, Carmel. $36; $31/ seniors; $21/students, teachers, military. (831) 622-0100, pacrep.org. DANIEL DREIFUSS Twin Bill PacRep’s Community Voices program debuts with the unique Chekhov Or Not. By Agata Popęda Howard Burnham (left) as Nikita Ivanich and Paul Barber as Vasili Svietlovidoff in Anton Chekhov’s Swan Song. This play is only half of the upcoming show at Circle Theatre. 101 WORD STORY CONTEST First Prize is $101 2nd and 3rd place winners receive gift certificates! We’ll publish the winners in our December 25, 2025 issue 1. All stories must contain the word “light” (or lit, lightning, etc.) 2. Stories may contain fewer than 101 words. 3. If a hyphenated word can be broken into two (or more) free-standing words it will be counted as two (or more) words. 4. Abbreviations are counted as one word. (“CA” or “California,” it’s still one word.) 5. Contractions are counted as one word. (“Isn’t” is one word; “is not” is two.) 6. Titles are not counted and are not necessary. 7. We reserve the right to re-title stories. 8. Poems are not acceptable. 9. Limit 3 entries per person. 10. If you mail in your entry, it must be submitted on 8.5 x 11 inch paper. Upload stories at: www.montereycountynow.com/101words or by mail: Monterey County Weekly 101-Word Short Story Contest 668 Williams Ave., Seaside CA 93955 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3 Write your name, address and phone number on each page you submit. Monterey County Weekly assumes no responsibility for returning submissions. PRINT | WEB | MOBILE december 26, 2024-January 1, 2025 montereycountynow.com LocaL & IndePendent Potty-mouthed Parrot 6 | In a PIckLe 8 | rIng In the new year 38 | baroque bash 40 FIrst PLace generaL exceLLence • 2024 ca JournaLIsm awards • the winners of the 101-word short story contest run free with their imaginations to blur the lines between fantasy and reality. p. 20 101-Word Short Story Contest Roll With it Challenge Word for 2025: Light. All stories must contain the word “light” (or lit, or lightning, etc.) Get Writing. Deadline Dec. 3
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