Three Sisters : A New Interpretation by Lev Dodin and the Maly Theatre:

Photo: Viktor Vassiliev

One of the most exciting theatrical events in a season that brought Boston the extraordinary Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 and Mark Ryland in Nice Fish (both at the ART) is Lev Dodin’s Three Sisters now playing at ArtsEmerson’s Cutler Majestic Theatre. Dodin, an illustrious Russian director, began his career more than fifty years ago when he joined the Young People’s Theatre run by Matvey Dubrovin, a pupil of Meyerhold. In the 1960s, he studied at the Leningrad Institute of Theatre under Boris Zon, who was a former student of Stanislavsky. Dodin’s work continues to be influenced by the discoveries of Meyerhold and Stanislavsky. 

In 1983, Dodin was appointed artistic director of the Maly Theatre in what was still Leningrad. The Maly has its own long-standing company of actors, some of whom trained under Dodin at the St. Petersburg Academy of Theatre Arts, as the Leningrad Institute is known today. Maly productions tour widely, although this is the first time the troupe has visited Boston. Three Sisters is played in Russian with English supertitles.

Chekhov is known for the complexity of his characters, even the most minor. However, in Three Sisters, the women stand out more vividly. The sisters, Irina (Elizaveta Boyarskay), Masha (Ksenia Rappoport), Olga (Irina Tychinia) and their younger brother Andrey (Alexander Bikovsky), born and raised in Moscow, were brought to an unnamed provincial town in Russia eleven years earlier by their now deceased father, General Prosorov, who took charge of a brigade. Irina, Masha, and Olga, bored and frustrated with their lives, long to return to Moscow, which they idealize. The arrival of a new brigade in town sparks their excitement. Three Sisters revolves around their coming to terms with the reality of their lives.

Alexander Borovsky’s looming set projects an ominous mood. Contrary to every production of Three Sisters I have ever attended, almost every scene is played outdoors, in front of the forbidding gray wooden two-story house. Occasionally, a character sits at one of the long open windows talking to someone outside. Over the central door hangs a wrought iron canopy. Above it is the second floor apartment that the family rents to Ivan Chebutikin (Sergey Kuryshev), an eccentric, alcoholic army doctor who had loved their departed mother. In front of the house a short flight of stairs leads down to a narrow lower level. Characters crowd together on the steps to converse or an actor may use them to deliver a speech directly to the audience as if it were a soliloquy. At Irina’s name day party, the audience views, but does not hear the guests at the dining table. Outside, in a corner where they cannot be seen by the diners, are Andrei and his soon-to-be-bride Natasha (Ekaterina Kleopina) portraying a tender scene. The drab house represents the unfulfilled lives of not only the members of the Prozorov family, but also those who befriend them. As the sister-in-law Natasha gradually takes over the household, the building moves forward symbolizing the sisters’ future exodus.

The lack of color extends to the costumes which are mostly gray, black, navy blue, and khaki. Irina is in white in the first act. Natasha, whom the sisters regard as vulgar, wears colorful clothing.

The deeply felt acting is highly realistic, although Dodin’s interpretation takes the play in an unusual direction. Rather than concentrating on the characters’ inner lives as is generally the case with Chekhov’s plays, Dodin directed the actors to play out their longings and emotions fully, especially their sexual feelings. With youthful optimism, Irina, the youngest and prettiest, who is celebrating her name day in the first scene, dreams of returning to Moscow, falling in love, and having a meaningful life through work. However, when she meets Lieutenant-Colonel Vershinin (Igor Chernivich), she flirts briefly with him, though she knows he is married. Baron Tusenbach (Oleg Ryazanzev) and Vassili Soleni (Stanislav Nikolskiy), both officers in the regiment, are drawn to her although neither is the answer to a young girl’s dreams. Nonetheless, her sexual curiosity leads her to kiss Soleni.

The bored, restless, but spunky Masha, married to a foolish, well-meaning high school teacher, falls in love with Vershinin, despite knowing that the affair has no future. When the regiment leaves the town at the play’s end, Masha is distraught. Kuligin (Sergey Vlasov), her husband holds her in his arms, repeating over and over that he forgives her. He becomes aroused and the two sink to the ground. As he caresses her, Masha begins to respond, perhaps out of loneliness.

Ekaterina Kleopina’s Natasha is more complex than usually played, due partly to Dodin’s blocking. Despite gaining all the power in the household, Natasha retains something of the forlorn quality she had at her first meeting with the family. On occasion, she watches the sisters longingly from inside or stands beside one of them, looking as if she would like to chat with her. Alexander Bikovsky’s Andrey makes the cuckolded character, whose life was ruined through his marriage, believable.  Irina Tychinina as Olga, the eldest sister, plays the disappointed spinster school teacher with dignified resignation. In moving from idealistic girl to inured woman, Elizaveta Boyarskay’s Irina undergoes the deepest character change. Sergey Kuryshev bring lots of humor to the doctor. Dodin adds to his comedic performance by having him climb out his window and sit on the canopy in the last scene, looking a bit like the fiddler on the roof. Kudos are due to all the actors. This production’s strong ensemble is an extraordinary treat.

Play by Anton Chekhov. Directed by Lev Dodin. Production by Maly Drama Theatre of St. Petersburg, Russia. Presented by ArtsEmerson at Cutler Majestic Theatre, through March 6.

Set and Costumes           Alexander Borovsky

Lighting Designer            Damir Ismagilov

Cast

Andrey Prosorov             Alexander Bikovsky

Natasha                            Ekaterina Kleopina

Olga                                   Irina Tychinina

Masha                               Ksenia Rappoport

Irina                                   Elizaveta Boyarskaya

Feodor Kuligin   Sergey Vlasov

Alexander Vershinin   Igor Chernevich

Baron Tuzenbach           Oleg Ryazanev

Vassili Soleni                    Stanislav Nikolskiy

Ivan Chebutikin Sergey Kuryshev

Alexey Fedotik  Artur Kozin

Vladimir Rode                 Evgeny Serzin

Ferapont                           Alexander Kosharev

Anfisa                                Natalia Akimova

Maid                                  Arina Von Ribben

Soldier                               Mihail Andreev