Review of a Show: Three Sisters

So I saw this production of Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov a little over a week ago on April 18^th. It was done by Ghost Light Productions in Seattle. I will be honest and up front before continuing, I did not enjoy this production. And it wasn’t just because I don’t like Chekhov. In fact, I tend to enjoy most Chekhov. I loved the production of Uncle Vanya we did last year and I liked reading Cherry Orchard in my theatre history class. But this production was not good. I’ll touch on a few things, but I had major problems with most aspects of the show, other that set and lighting for the most part.

First, there was the acting. I’m not saying everyone in the show was bad. I actually liked the woman that played Masha and the man who played Vershinin. They worked very well together as a pair, and I really believed them. But to be quite honest, most of the actors in this show did not handle Chekhov’s language very well. Things just sounded so forced and awkward, like it was a different language other than English. It wasn’t natural. And with Chekhov, the language is extremely important. It conveys class, age, feeling, so much really. And in these shows, people really don’t do a lot. It’s mostly about what they say to each other. So when what they say doesn’t sound right, or we can’t quite grasp the meaning because the actors aren’t fully able to communicate things properly, the audience’s ability to stay engaged in the work goes away. The one time I was incredibly impressed with an actor was in the case of the doctor. He has a very large speech, to himself, looking in a mirror. This actor was able to really commit to the speech, and it was really obvious he fully understood what his character was saying. Other than this moment, his character was a little bit useless, but that honestly has a bit to do with the writing. But this production didn’t really try to make him seem useful at all. He was just sort of…there. It was really odd to me.

Something that I really think did not work was the sound design. They chose to use instrumental versions of modern songs throughout, even though the set and costumes were period and the show was obviously set in the time Chekhov wrote it. I think it would have been cool, had it been done with a purpose and added something to the show. But it didn’t. Instead it detracted. I got distracted by the odd song choices. They didn’t add anything to the scenes or the overall themes of the show. I guess what I could say about learning things as a writer is that I will need to remember that everything can change when a director or designer gets a hold of it. Obviously, in some cases, such as with Fences, the tech work can add to the text and give it that extra kick. Here, it did not work. It distracted me and really didn’t bring anything new to what was happening.

I think from this show, the best thing I can take away is this: if you want something to be a certain way, be specific! In a lot of cases, stage directions are general, and directors ignore them most of the time anyway, so it is better to be as specific as possible if you are really married to an idea. Obviously, the text isn’t everything in a performance. It is important, it is the foundation of the show, but once you add the actors and designers, everything can change. An author can only give so much and then hope the production team won’t screw it up.