Photo courtesy Lauren Scornavacca
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to see our theatre department’s production of “The Three Sisters” in our very own Blackman theatre. I had no idea what it was about, so I went in with an open mind. The first thing I saw when entering the theatre was the stage covered in tin foil and Julia Chase dressed as an old woman rocking back and forth on the stage. Needless to say, I was pretty confused, but mostly intrigued. When she started reading the rules of the theatre in her fantastic old lady voice, I was excited to see more.
From the start, you see the vast differences between each of the characters. Irina, played by Meryl Prendergast, daydreams like a hopeful child. Masha, played by Devon Whitney, is dissatisfied with life. Olga, played by Keely Craig, is a mothering figure to her sisters. I loved how their personalities were mirrored in their clothing. Irina wears innocent white, Masha is in hopeless black, and Olga in loyal blue. It really helped me get a sense of their personalities before the dialogue even started.
Photo courtesy Lauren Scornavacca
The relationships in this play were very interesting. I loved seeing the three sisters share private laughs and whispers. It really made me believe they were close. Also, I loved how the sisters overpowered their brother Andrei, played by Jacob Barrett. Seeing him being annoyed and trying to hide it was so fun. Just when I thought I had met all the characters, Natasha, played by Natalie Katz, bursts into the room and demands everyone’s attention. She stole the scene, making the whole theatre burst into laughter at her tap dancing show.
The theatre department really made this play into their own. They interacted with the audience, speaking to them and even throwing balloons into the crowd. They added modern songs that the characters would start singing randomly. They added little choreographed motions that the sisters would do during transitions which were very telling of how they were feeling, especially when they formed a box and had each of them trying to break free. They had movements amongst the cast that were fantastically weird and confusing, but I wasn’t mad about it. Adding their own elements into this play really helped make it different and interesting.
Overall, I thought all of the actors were very believable and natural. Seeing them interact with each other so naturally took me out of reality for a while. I had to remind myself that they weren’t actually sisters and this birthday party wasn’t really happening. It was very entertaining to see the progression of the characters, and I was left wanting more.