23. 3 sisters

Check. Alley Scott plays Natasha beautifully. She commands the stage.

Three Sisters is a naturalistic play about the decay of the privileged class in Russia and the search for meaning in the modern world. It describes the lives and aspirations of the Prozorov family, the three sisters (Olga, Masha, and Irena) and their brother Andrey. They are a family dissatisfied and frustrated with their present existence. The sisters are refined and cultured young women who grew up in urban Moscow; however for the past eleven years they have been living in a small provincial town.

Chekhov's initial inspiration was the general life-story of the three Brontë sisters, i.e., their refinement in the midst of provincial isolation and their disappointment in the expectations they had of their brother Branwell.

Moscow is a major symbolic element: the sisters are always dreaming of it and constantly express their desire to return. They identify Moscow with their happiness, and thus to them it represents the perfect life. However as the play develops Moscow never materializes and they all see their dreams recede further and further. Meaning never presents itself and they are forced to seek it out for themselves. Considered a classic, this play is periodically revived to suit extraordinary stage actresses, but the breadth and scope of the roles require that the entire company be extraordinary. Although the play's rise and fall seem to follow the arc of Irena's story, the star role, for her passion and her humour, is usually Masha. However, as with all of Chekhov's plays, any one of the characters, in the right actor's hands, can blaze with uncommon humanity, and the simplest moment can become a sudden revelation.

It is important to understand that Chekhov originally sought to showcase his plays as tragicomedies, depicting the ridiculousness of the upper class. He wanted to show how they talked at and not to each other, acting like children and thus, allowing for little or no progress. Chekhov felt it important to allow realism to sink in, stating that he would not relent on the Russia public until they realized their faults and worked on improving their characters. Unfortunately, most people view Chekhov's plays as being more like tragedies. The characters are taken too seriously which creates a feeling of incompleteness in regards to the endings.