Three Sisters - Review

Three Sisters – TAP Gallery Darlinghurst, 7-23 June

Written by Anton Chekhov, directed and adapted by Liz Arday

 Reviewed by Lana Hilton

“Any idiot can face a crisis. It’s the day-to-day living that wears you out”

– Anton Chekhov.

This simple quote was all the information I had about this play; I went in with an open mind hoping for a dramatic Russian production filled with vivacious humour and characters that slide around the set slightly drunk.

Although it was a little funny, and wine and vodka were definitely unnamed actors whose performance time doubled that of any other, unfortunately this ‘day-to-day living that wears you out’ also wore me out by the end.

The play is set in a small provincial town that is definitely not Moscow, as the country’s capital is all that the siblings talk about- returning to the hometown they so dearly love. Their recently departed father was in the military and as a result the three sisters are known by many soldiers, officers and doctors who roam through the town and into the women’s lives.

Irina (Shaelee Rooke), Masha (Alison McGirr and Olga (Alixandra Kupcik) are said sisters, who dream of a more fulfilling, exhilarating life. They yearn for experiences that cannot unfold in the old, decaying manor in which they live. They are stifled by the house and the town.

The constant desperation of the youngest sister Irina who wants to work and to find love and to return to Moscow is reminiscent of the Theatre of the Absurd; she is waiting, always waiting for more to happen but it never does.

Coupled with the many scenes where the sisters and their friends take a glass of wine and ‘philosophise’, I was certain that the themes of the play must be absurdist and imposed so that we too can see the meaninglessness of our indecipherable lives. A challenge.

However, I learned that this play was written in 1900, at least 40 years before the term ‘absurdist’ was coined and expressed in theatre. If I was wrong about the original concept what else could the play have been about?

The answer – I have no idea.

There were 12 characters in this production and numerous instances when all 12 were on-stage at once. TAP Gallery is a very intimate space and it was overwhelming when this occurred. Sometimes the minor characters were merely reading a newspaper in the background. There was too much going on and focus was pulled from the action, pulled from the meaning of the script.

I was unsure what time period the play was set as the actors spoke as if from the late 19^th century with their ‘my love’s’ and ‘whatever do you mean’s’ but these sentences were harshly interrupted by constant swearing (namely the f-word) and in one scene the c-bomb was dropped!

I felt the costumes and staging were abstract when such language was used, as if trying to drag a period piece into the modern world by only its vernacular. Oh, and a scene with a jelly-pink dildo, which I will be very interested to know if this was in the original script.

Nerves got the better of some when they spoke over the top of one another or fumbled their words, and some of the monologues appeared to be delivered just so the actor could have their moment. The cast lacked energy and a real interaction with one another. I will point out that it was the opening night so the cause for nerves can be somewhat excused, but not the energy levels.

The only character I found myself entranced by and actually listening to was the idealistic officer Vershinin, played by Ben Dalton. He understood the acting space and didn’t speak as if projecting to an entire auditorium, but just to whom he was speaking. He made use of the cosy theatre and concentrated on the delivery of his words and actions. He was a joy to watch and listen to.

I spoke with a couple of other people who were in the same mind about the production – too long and incomprehensible. Hopefully as the show continues and the actors slip into their characters it will become more enjoyable.