| Review by Lisa Bennie, August 2006
Is Chekhov still relevant? A question given a weighty and thoughtful response in this show’s programme, but then again that might prove a little biased. The playwright who induces groans from English lit and drama students alike might only be misunderstood. Given a full house at the Kings on the opening night, it might be fair to say there are still those willing to give him a chance, and with the direction of Krystian Lupa, Chekhov might just prove himself to an audience used to fast-this and speed-that.
On the first anniversary of their father’s death the three sisters, Olga, Masha and Irina, hold a gathering at the family home with their brother, friends, and father’s old army buddies. It is here they begin to muse about how their lives have turned out and the huge desire to return to Moscow, where they lived as children. The house is always busy, people come and go, but none seem content with the hand they have been dealt in life.
The themes of Chekhov are the reasons to justify his plays as still relevant today. Three Sisters covers topics of a close and distant family, loss, dissatisfaction with life and the current situation, and crumbling relationships, which all still resound in one way or another with a contemporary audience. However, in the same token it is the way in which his plays are written which are harder to make contemporary, As we are used to viewing soaps, fast paced movies, half-hours of this and forty-five minutes of that, sitting for three and a half hours whilst not a lot happens is a huge deterrent, but one which a good production can overcome. This sadly is not a good production. From the woman in the grand-circle having to shout “we cannot hear” in order to evoke some volume from the cast, to the woman behind me muttering “I don’t blame them” every time someone in the audience got up to leave, you could positively cut the atmosphere with a knife. I spent the latter half of the first half wondering if the cast would at some point break down and give up. Aside from not being able to hear a portion of the dialogue, the main issue with the performance was every actor’s need to make the play their character’s story or perhaps the director’s decision to make everyone crazy. Unwatchable, would be the only word to sum up the production. If you enjoy uncomfortable situations and a horribly tense atmosphere then this might be your show!
American Repertory Theatre
Kings Theatre, Home Street (0131 529 6000)
Aug 29- Sept 2: 19:00 (3hrs30mins) from £7
Aug 31, Sept 2: 13:00 (3hrs30) from £7
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