We were in for an intense and emotional rollercoaster that is always Chekhov and we got it. The set established the mood with an atmospheric living room and dining area reminiscent of a late nineteenth century painting with curios and antiques shadowed and lit according to the changing dynamics of the play. Chairs, tables and a piano would become central to the changing dynamics of a tight-knit family in the wrong place. Music was beautifully performed adding a melancholic mood adding to the underlying sadness as the dining table was changed for different times of the day reflecting the changing circumstances.
Enter the actors all strong in their own ways and at times challenged not to upstage each other with the drama of each revelation. As the family evolved, we started with a celebration and the characters established themselves in their best light and costumes as if anything were possible and personal dreams were almost real. The three sisters formed the core as the male characters danced around them reacting as disillusionment set in over the years. Dreams came and went and some of the wrong goals became reality with a realisation of the saying, ‘Be careful what you ask for, you may get it’.
The oldest sister, already slightly worn with responsibility was played by an actor who made the character believable and maintained a sense of sympathy from the audience as she struggled with others’ decisions that impacted upon the family’s fortune and frustration. The middle sister, strongly acted, was all suppressed passion, erupting eventually and then left with the scars of untempered desire. The youngest was presented as confident and fresh as a daisy being courted by a couple of men and presenting the first stirrings of the Russian future of work being the goal and reason for living only to find that it is just labour and not love. All female actors offered different facets of the sense of lack of control ending in a fractured life and family.
The male characters were equally strong and believable if occasionally upstaging others due to the bombastic nature of the character. The dream Colonel who offered a romantic view of life probably more than anyone, saw unhappiness as the main result of being. The idolised brother who quickly falls of his pedestal, marries the wrong woman disturbing the household and failing at his dreams ending in emptiness. The Baron who loves the youngest sister and as with the others, makes a choice that would impact upon his life. The minor characters offered a backdrop to a household that is struggling with identity, living with rose-coloured glasses of their past life in Moscow and refusing to see what is evolving around them.
The audience laughed, squirmed, became irritated and responded to the oncoming disillusionment as each character fell apart and the ending left asking for more and what happens to them next?
To book tickets to Three Sisters, please visit https://www.oldfitztheatre.com.au/three-sisters.
Photographer: Robert Miniter
