THREE SISTERS. To 30 April.

Bristol
THREE SISTERS
by Anton Chekhov. New version by Nicholas Wright from a literal translation by Helen Rappaport.

Tobacco Factory To 30 April 2005
Runs 2hr 50min Two intervals

TICKETS: 0117 902 0344
Review: Harry Mottram 29 March

A carefully paced and precise piece of drama from the Shakespeare in the Tobacco Factory theatre company.Teachers are overworked, doctors know nothing, soldiers get drunk. How little things change in more than a century. In Chekhov's Three Sisters, Baron Tusenbach and Vershinin debate what life will be like in the future. They conclude everyone will be happy, but that in some ways things won't change. People will have freedom, but may not appreciate the things they already have: they will always want more.

It's the truth of the dialogue that compels, and in Andrew Hilton's minimalist production every word is clear and every passage of dialogue remains uncluttered by business or action. You could close your eyes and listen and follow the action precisely. Performed in period costume with only a minimum of props, the production concentrates on the characters.

The three sisters are given life in three fine performances. The long suffering Olga played by Daisy Douglas, Lucy Black as stressed-out Masha, and the romantic Irina played by Catherine Hamilton, gel as three close, but diverse siblings. They are united in their antipathy for their ghastly sister-in-law Natasha played with insensitive brilliance by Esther Ruth Elliott.

Roland Oliver excels as the grumpy but worldly-wise army doctor while Paul Currier as the love-sick colonel is suitably Chekhovian with his wistful lines and moist eyes contemplating what might have been.

Stuart Crossman's Andrey captures the duplicitous and mediocre aspects of the three sisters' unhappy brother, and Jacob Dylan Thomas as Baron Tusenbach skilfully fleshes out the idealistic character of Tusenbach.

There is some exquisite character acting from Avril Elgar's nurse maid, Paul Nicholson as a servant and Nathan Rimell as the slightly unhinged soldier Solyony. A large cast (including travelling musicians and several minor characters) give the sense of decline and despair of a provincial Russian middleclass who feel life is passing them by. This production may not have vast sets, or a sweeping backdrop, but it captures life's longings, frustrations and truths as seen by Chekhov in his fin de siecle play.

(Tobacco Factory lowdown: There are no fixed seat numbers, so it is first come first served. Beware of sitting behind a pillar. Many of the seats are old church pews, so bring a cushion for comfort. The auditorium is intimate, so you are never far from the stage, which is played in the round.)

Andrey: Stuart Crossman
Olga: Daisy Douglas
Masha: Lucy Black
Irina: Catherine Hamilton
Chebutykin: Roland Oliver
Baron Tusenbach: Jacob Dylan Thomas
Solyony: Nathan Rimell
Vershinin: Paul Currier
Kulygin: Andrew Collins
Natasha: Esther Ruth Elliott
Fedotik: Mark Hesketh
Rode: Dan Winter
Anfisa: Avril Elgar
Ferapont: Paul Nicholson

Director: Andrew Hilton.
Designer: Vicki Cowan-Ostersen.
Lighting: Paul Towson
Sound/Music: Elizabeth Purnell

2005-04-12 23:02:18