THREE SISTERS In rep
THREE SISTERS: Anton Chekhov
National Theatre (Lyttelton)
In rep. NB new time, 7.15 pm
Runs 3 hours 30, One interval
Review: Heather Neill, 12 August 2003
Atmospheric, Chekhov tinged with Beckett, but sometimes over emphasised
Katie Mitchell's atmospheric production lingers over the stifling limitations of small-town Russian life, its lonely characters thrown together by family ties and circumstance. Never have Olga, Masha and Irina, the sisters hungry for escape to Moscow, their brother Andrey and the visiting military seemed so isolated; each personal tragedy, every waste of potential, is suffered in self- absorption and scant hope for the future. Optimistic speeches by Ben Daniels's self-conscious Vershinin, the colonel with whom Masha, the frustrated middle sister falls in love, ring hollow as he leaves to cope with a suicidal wife.
Mitchell is clearly fascinated by the inexorable passage of time; minutes tick loudly away and when the doctor, Chebutykin, drunkenly smashes a clock 'to buggery', it is not a random act but expresses an underlying tension about opportunity dwindling, life running out. This is Chekhov tinged with Beckett; hapless people unable to take control of their lives pass the time until death.
But, as in Waiting for Godot, there is a sense of the ridiculous. Mitchell finds laughs in the solipsism of the characters while also insisting on their humanity. Natasha (an excellent Lucy Whybrow) is as much a victim of snobbery as a usurper of the sisters' rights, while Masha's tediously pedantic husband Kulygin (Angus Wright) is capable of patience and enormous generosity.
Death is a significant presence. In the very first scene, during recollections of the death of the Prozorovs' father, there is an almost mystical moment as silence falls, a vase crashes to the ground and an unexpected breeze disturbs the curtains of Vicki Mortimer's shabby-genteel household. This and moments when the action goes into slow motion or freezes altogether, or otherworldly sounds assail the ear, seem unnecessarily attention-seeking reminders of Mitchell's themes.
Nicholas Wright's script is admirably clear and unafraid of direct language -- when has Natasha previously been described as a small-town bitch? -- while managing to avoid any jarringly current expressions.
This is an ensemble piece, the characters' stories winding in and out of each other and Mitchell's cast serves this well. Eve Best's bitter Masha, Lorraine Ashbourne's pragmatic Olga and Anna Maxwell Martin as an Irina swiftly losing youthful optimism show sisterly affection and a believable sense of family.
As the army leave town and Irina's fiance is shot in a duel the curtain comes down with the sound of a guillotine.
Andrey: Dominic Rowan
Olga: Lorraine Ashbourne
Masha: Eve Best
Irina: Anna Maxwell Martin
Anfisa: Antonia Pemberton
Anya: Beth Fitzgerald
Elenya: Fiona Mason
Chebutykin: Patrick Godfrey
Baron Tuzenbach: Paul Hilton
Solyony: Tim McMullan
Vershinin: Ben Daniels
Fedotik: Thomas Arnold
Rode: Peter Eastland
Mikhail: Sean Jackson
Kulygin: Angus Wright
Natasha: Lucy Whybrow
Ferapont: Peter Needham
Performer with musicians: Jessica Green
Director: Katie Mitchell
Designer: Vicki Mortimer
Lighting designer: Paule Constable
Music: Paul Clark
Choreographer: Kate Flatt
Sound designer: Gareth Fry
Company voice work: Kate Godfrey
2003-08-15 11:02:02