MISHAWAKA--Directed by Clarence Gilyard, American actor, college professor, and author, the complex story of “Three Sisters” was performed at the Kelly Auditorium by students involved in the theatre department on both Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27 and 28, 2019.
The four-act play was written by Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright and short-story writer, that took place in the late 19th century in a small town in Russia, which was later translated into English by Lanford Wilson.
Actors play the roles of the fallen fortunes of four children after their father, a Colonel in the Russian army, dies. Irina, the sweetest and the youngest, Masha, a woman trapped in a marriage lacking love, Olga, the most practical, and Andrei, a good violin player and an even worse gambler, all long to move back to the city of Moscow.
The small family meet a variety of lively characters along the plot, and, unfortunately, never find their way back to Moscow.
Although filled with scandalous affairs, a devastating fire, and death, the play was anti-climactic, and its characters were passive-aggressive, while its actors delivered the piece greatly.
“Three Sisters” raised many questions, such as the significance of the fire across the river, why the characters were petty, and why did Baron Tuzenbach die at the end?
The fire that takes place across the river in the play is addressed, is not a significant role in the story even though different characters in the story comment on the magnitude of the fire.
The problems and drama that takes place within the lives of each sibling is something that just about anyone could relate to in real life, which does include boy trouble, submission, relationship problems, approval, and even gambling. However, each problem could have been solved with a proclamation for divorce or even a long talk with a significant other. Each problem was unaddressed and left you more frustrated with the character than in love with the story.
Certain situations in the play seemed unimportant to the addition to the story line and felt more like it added to the underdevelopment in maturity of the siblings. With each growing problem, came the growing pettiness of each character.
The talented cast of Bethel’s theatre department delivered when it came to projection, inclusion, and performance, with only a few unplanned stutters here and there. Although “Three Sisters” raises frustration, it is a play worth watching.