Let's face it. The Russians are depressed, dramatic people who see life as a gray and hopeless thing. So what happens when a Russian writes a play? Well, you can expect suicide, infidelity, and generally depression to fall across the stage, viewed by many wide, attentive, and quickly tear filled eyes.
Such is the way with "Three Sisters", a play written by Anton Chekhov in 1900. The play centers around three well-to-do sisters, their philosophies on life and love, and their desire to go to Moscow, their birthplace.
It was fitting that we saw this lovely play in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, at night. As we waited in the parking lot, looking over several dimly lit tombstones rising sordidly out of the ground, we talked about how much Elvis's pelvis could fetch on Ebay and similar cheerful topics. We eventually entered the Masonic Lodge where the play was to be performed.
The play was performed by Chalk Repertory Theatre which was co-founded by one of my CSSSA (California State Summer School for the Arts) teachers. It was through her that I found out about the play. We walked into a parking lot outside the building. A door, dug slightly into the ground, that had been previously locked tight was now open, revealing a garden with several palm trees. There my teacher greeted me with a hug and a smile and I walked into the building and up the long flight of stairs to the main lobby.
We were seated "tennis court style" with two rows of chairs lined up along the center of the room, where the set had been erected. There was a chair and lamp in one corner, a table in another, a rug on the floor. Off in the distance, on a stage, there was a long table. When the play began, it was immediately apparent that most of the action would be happening right between the two rows of chairs, meaning that we would be up close and personal with every detail of the action. It was almost like a small version of Shakespeare's Globe.
Ruth Mckee had this to sayabout the decision to preform the play in the Masonic Lodge:
“In many ways, the MasonicLodge was an ideal space for production. It's in a great location, it has ampleparking, a good lobby space, bathrooms, etc. The only thing that makes itchallenging is that it doesn't have much of a stage. The director LarissaKokernot, really took this challenge as an opportunity. Rather than saying,"How can I make this space more like a theatre?" she asked,"What can I do with this space that I wouldn't be able to do in atheatre?" and allowed that philosophy to drive the way she staged theplay.”
When asked why the audiencewas seated in such a way that one could get so close to the actors, she said, “Apart of what we're interested in as a theatre company is creating intimateperformances, and breaking down the fourth wall, so that there is no barrierbetween the actors and the audience. It's definitely a challenge for theperformers, but I find it creates a theatrical experience that is much morepersonal and involving. It really exploits what theatre can do that film can't- you can't escape from the reality that these characters are actual bodies infront of you.”
In the story, the three sisters, Olga, Maria, and Irina, live with their brother, Andrei. They are often visited by Chebutykin (the doctor), a jolly older man whom they look to as a father, Solyony and Baron Tuzenbach, two friends in the army, Vershinin, a philosophizing lieutenant, and Kulygin, Maria's doting husband. The play starts on Irina's name day, a day where all is happy and cheerful. Olga and Irina are constantly pining for Moscow, their birthplace, and talk of their plans to go there eventually. Near the end of this scene, we meet Natasha, an awkward, shy woman who is Andrei's love interest. The scene ends as Andrei proposes to Natasha, the lights slowly dimming.
As the years and scenes pass, we see things slowly getting worse for the sisters and their family. Natasha becomes a shrew, everyone starts having affairs, and Moscow seems further and further away.
Thus, this scene of contemplating on how life is passing you by, how no one can ever be really happy, are just some of the more cheerful mentions in the play.
But I kid. There are quite a few lighthearted moments in this dreary play. For example, many of the scenes with Solyony were hilarious, seeing as he was always yelling out things randomly because of his awkwardness in social situations ("If that were my baby, I would fry it and eat it."). Also, the scenes with Maria's adoring, nervous husband were very well played ("My Masha!").
There were also some very good, well-known actors in this play. They include: Tony Amendola, who has appeared in "Dexter," "Stargate," "Seinfeld," and "West Wing," among others, as the doctor and Ricardo Antonio Chavira, who appeared in "Desperate Housewives," "Six Feet Under," and "24," as Vershinin.
"Three Sisters" is not a "bring the young kids" or "bring that jolly uncle" sort of play, but it's a very good play for high school age and above that makes you contemplate many important ideas in life, and makes you wonder if we are all just wasting it away with promises.
"Three Sisters" by Anton Chekhov, a new version by Susan Coyne presented by Chalk Repertory Theatre (chalkrep.com) and Hollywood Forever Cemetery, through February 22, 2009 with
Tony Amendola............................Chebutykin
Tony Aguilar................................Rohde
Corey Brill....................................Kulygin
Tom Carey...................................Ferapont
Jennifer Chang..............................Masha
Ricardo Antonio Chavira.................Vershinin
Feodor Chin..................................Andrei
Aileen Cho....................................Irina
Owiso Odera.................................Solyony
Joy Osmanski................................Olga
Teri Reeves..................................Natasha
Adam J. Smith..............................Tuzenbach
Richard Tanne...............................Fedotik
Eva Wielgat..................................Anfisa