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Three Sisters
By Anton Chekhov
Translated by Paul Schmidt
Directed by Michael Patrick Thornton
At The Gift Theatre
4802 N. Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL
Call 773-283-7071, tickets $20 - $25
Thursdays thru Saturdays at 8 pm
Sundays at 3 pm
Running time is 2 hours, 40 minutes with intermission
Through September 30, 2007
Solid Ensemble Work Brings Three Sisters to Life at The Gift
What makes Anton Checkhov’s Three Sisters one of the most perennially popular plays is that it deals with life’s disappointments without casting blame. Blame shifts across generations and cultures, residing with everyone from the meddling gods of the ancient Greeks to the dysfunctional families of our own ceaselessly whining Generation X, but it is Chekhov’s view of life itself as the culprit that endures because it is a timeless truth. The Gift Theatre’s new ensemble production of Chekhov’s masterpiece makes this point crystal clear in the most intelligent production of Three Sisters that this writer has seen in a very long time.
The strong ensemble character of The Gift Theatre’s production is epitomized in the magnetic performances of Jenny Connell, Hillary Clemens and Calliope Porter as the disappointed and disillusioned Prozorov sisters. Life just isn’t turning out right in any way for any of them and there is absolutely no villain in site. Individually, each sister is a sympathetic character, but it is the sisterhood dynamic among these three fine actresses that bludgeons the audience with the painful truth that life is ugly and unrelenting. A few choices of colloquial idiom, especially from Porter’s Masha, may seem anachronistic or even annoy some theatre-goers, but for me the distraction of the occasional slight anachronism of language was greatly outweighed by the intimacy of the sisters that it helped translate.
Disappointment and personal desperation are by no means confined to the sisters; they are shared throughout the extended Prozorov family and the society of the provincial city with all of the inherent sadness brought to life through the ensemble work. The Gift Theatre’s extended rehearsal period – 5 months in this case – really pays off. Director Michael Patrick Thornton has put the cast through months of character development and he wisely steps aside to allow the work to take center stage. There are some fine supporting performances as well, most notably from veteran Margaret Kustermann as Anfisa, the Prozorov’s 80-year-old maid, but it is the ensemble nature of the cast that really makes the show.
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With such fine acting it isn’t necessary to have an elaborate set, which is fortunate because a naturalistic approach to the sprawling provincial home of the Prozorovs would not be possible in The Gift’s tiny space. Director Thornton has opted for a column-bound bare stage reminiscent of a Greek or Roman tragedy and found his naturalism in beautiful period costumes from designer Branimira Ivanova with special program acknowledgement to Frances Maggio of Columbia College and Alicia Turner from Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. The space of the house is created by the actors themselves in a highly stylized way and the costumes provide just the right note to make the whole scene imaginable.
If there is a fault in this production, it is that it runs a bit long at over two and a half hours with the intermission. With so much gloom and sadness and the cast so involved with it, there is little wonder that they – and the audience – are a bit drained before the final lengthy scene. Even Chekhov novices shouldn’t have too much problem with it, however, and Chekhov fanatics will be delighted to see such a coherent production of the play.
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Randy Hardwick
randyontheglobe@yahoo.com for comments
Date Reviewed: August 26, 2007
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