THREE SISTERS

Tue 27 - Sat 31 May 2003 at 7.45pm
Northampton College Studio Theatre, Booth Lane, Northampton

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Three Sisters was first performed in January 1901 at the recently founded Moscow Arts Theatre under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavsky.

As a play which ‘represents behaviour in meticulous detail’ it was well suited to the then new theatrical style of naturalism.

Certainly Chekhov shows the interplay of subtly drawn characters caught in a tangled web of realistic circumstance. But it is also a play in which the dialogue appears ‘evocative and poetic’, playing variations upon that perennial human yearning for a place where the grass is always greener.

So this 19th Century Russian drama is both a memory of another time, another place and a poignant reminder of the essential continuity of the human condition - a kind of two-way mirror.

Chekhov's masterpiece Three Sisters is the spring offering from the Northampton-based Masque Theatre.

The play tells the story of Irina, Masha and Olga, who live on in their father’s house following his death, with their brother Andrey.

The sisters, played by Helen Jenkinson, Lisa Hassan and Emily Salter, dream of going to Moscow but instead they are forced to stay and face disappointment in love and work while their brother’s bride takes over the house.

Masha, who is already married, falls passionately in love with Vershinin, with bitter consequences, while Baron Tusenbach courts Irina but is killed in a duel on the eve of their wedding.

Natasha, having married Andrey, defiantly carries on an affair with the local mayor and, by the end of the play, is instrumental in forcing the sisters out of their home.

The cast for the production also includes Miranda Hicks as Natasha and Matthew Fell as Andrey.

Jay Ayling is the sinister Lieutenant Solyony and Chris Eves and David Chappell are Baron Tusenbach and Teacher Kulygin.

Masque stalwarts Owen Warr and Rob Kendall take the central roles of Dr Chebutykin and Colonel Vershinin.

Three Sisters is being performed at Northampton College Studio at Northampton College Performing Arts Centre in St Gregory’s Road, Booth Lane, from Tuesday to Saturday May 27 to 31, at 7.45pm.

Tickets are £6 and £5 for concessions, and are available from the box office on Northampton 401193 or from the Tourist Information Centre in Guildhall Road or The Works in Adnitt Road.

The theatre company is also supporting Lowdown, the Northampton advice centre for young people.

Special charity tickets, which cost £10 including a programme and free glass of wine, are available by calling Northampton 634385 between 9.30am and 7.30pm.