Three Sisters

No, it isn’t the Bevs: it’s Chekhov, Jim, but not as we know it. There are no cool Derek Jacobi types in white suits and no pale sunshine streaming through the dacha’s French windows, reflecting off the gently steaming samovar over there in the corner. And not a silver birch in sight. This is a timeless Chekhov for our times, framed in a refreshing version by Christopher Hampton and directed in collaboration by Sean Holmes, the new artistic director of the Lyric Hammersmith, and the Filter collective, and it’s on tour from the Lyric. The production, which distils the essence of Chekhov, successfully uses interesting staging and inventive sound to achieve its aims.

The Three Sisters share a surname, Prozorov, which is reminiscent of an anti-depressant tablet, and really appropriate for a bipolar play about the search for happiness and the meaning of life. Sensible Olga (Poppy Miller) is the eldest, a spinstery school teacher with headaches; whilst highly strung Masha (Romola Garai) married far too young to another teacher, Kulygin (Paul Brennan, who was outstanding); and the youngest, naïve Irina (Clare Dunne), has dreams of actually working at something sometime soon. They all share a huge desire to go back to an almost mythical Moscow because the town where they live is so provincial and boring.

The play starts with a special lunch party for Irina’s name-day, where the guests include dashing soldiers from the nearby battery, and continues on in the house party vein with scenes from the ensuing five years or so. This is a middle class Russian family and friends passing time by playing mind games, perhaps until a revolution happens. Some fall in love with each other, some have affairs, and some even fight a duel, and they all navel gaze in an interesting and amusing way. The performances were excellent from a very strong cast.

It appears that Chekhov wrote a witty satire, which stands the test of the time that his characters speculate about. The production also plays mind games with the audience, and there are some surprising bits, such as man arriving in crash helmet and another pissing into a wardrobe, stage directions which must have gained a certain something in translation or were missed in previous productions. The sound effects really work well, especially when we eavesdropped on conversations happening off-stage, and after a while you don’t notice the on-stage sound rig.

So, guys, you should check out this Chekhov. It’s a really good evening of theatre!

Phil Bloomfield (DI Reviewer), 10/03/10

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