'Three Sisters' at the Arden

Beginning as it does, at a table read of Chekhov’s Three Sisters, this production, with a new and very accessible translation by Curt Columbus, draws the audience in very subtly. The actors wear modern dress and sit around a table, a model of a traditional Chekhovian stage set sits on stage, and slides on the back wall show images of the life portrayed in the play. The actors even break character to discuss why a character might be upset about the gift of a samovar. A samovar? What could be the harm in that? Turns out, an online search informs them, it’s a very personal gift, inappropriately given.

Little by little, scenery appears. There are beds and chairs for the actors to sit on, a table for dining, a set of barren trees for a yard. The actors move away from their scripts and take on their characters, bringing the audience along with them.

The play is about three sisters who long for another life. Stuck in the country, they want to return to Moscow or to marry for love rather than out of a sense of duty. The town they live in is made bearable by the presence of the military, which brings life, and the possibility of romance, to the town. They have philosophical discussions about the meaning of life and drink too much and too often and betray each other and forgive each other and do it all over again.

While Chekhov's plays can be difficult and long, this version avoided some of the more challenging aspects of staging his plays. The translator chose to drop the various nicknames that make it difficult to know who is talking to whom, and the language, while perhaps sometimes a bit too modern, made sense for us today. It also had the advantage of making the play seem relevant. We don’t all long to go to Moscow, and for a modern American, the idea of not being able to make that journey seems absurd, but there are things we long for that we can’t get, and we still question what makes life meaningful.

Chekhov's world is one where women are dependent upon men, so they marry without love or settle for mundane jobs. Everyone searches for love but finds it only to lose it to tragedy or the reality of everyday life. Chekhov does not let you leave the theater feeling good about relationships or the future.

Who's who?

The three sisters, Masha (Katharine Powell), Olga (Sarah Sanford), and Irina (Mary Tuomanen), as well as their sister-in-law Natasha (Rebecca Gibel), were distinctly recognizable and their motivations easy to comprehend. Although they didn’t wear traditional costumes, each actress managed to portray her role with ease.

The men, who were not always cast according to type, fared less well in this respect. Younger brother Andre (Luigi Sottile), a wastrel who talks about weight issues, was slim. The doctor, Chebutykin, who is meant to be an old man, was played by the much younger Scott Greer. While Greer turned in a strong performance, it changed the dynamic of the scenes he was in — instead of a rather pathetic old man, he became a drunken lout.

Ian Merrill Peakes (Vershinin), James Ijames (Tuzenbach), and Charlie Thurston (Kulygin) played their parts well, but their characters were less distinguishable than the women. In general, Chekhov’s portrayal of older characters tends to verge on stereotype. Anfisa (Cathy Simpson) and Ferapont (Louis Lippa), while well-acted, were caricatures of the infirmities and limitations of old age.

Music was present throughout the production and added to the pathos of the last scene. The actors who sang in addition to playing their parts had formed their own band — Greer said it was called Dark Vodka — and sang Russian songs at the start of each act, beginning with "Ochi Chyornye (Dark Eyes)," probably the only Russian song I know.

Despite the unconventional staging, this production works and draws the audience in so that when forced out into the cold night air, we wanted to return to find out what would happen to these characters we were just beginning to get to know.

(Photo, above right: Charlie Thurston outside the Arden; photo by Naomi Orwin)