I was really absorbed by this three hour immersion in the Russian countryside as the three sisters wrestled with the stultifying boredom of their existence. Longing to return to the gaiety of Moscow, for most of the play they are distracted by the soldiers garrisoned nearby. The middle one - Masha - has an affair with one of the officers to relieve the tedium of her early marriage to a local school-teacher while the youngest - Irina - is pursued by several suitors. The eldest meanwhile - Olga - seems to have consigned herself to an early spinsterdom. The brother is married to the nasty selfish Natasha, a woman who the sisters hate and who gradually takes over their house while having an affair with the local mayor.
All the while, the play wrestles with the meaning of life - or its meaninglessness. The air of lethargy is summed up by the retired doctor who has turned to drink and in this version by Cordelia Lynn comes out with the ditty "Ta ra ra boom de ay; I've drunk my life away. What does it matter?"
Under the direction of Rebecca Frecknall, the actors were positioned on stage in arresting tableaux, adding to the theatricality of the evening. By the end, I would have happily have gone through it al again - passing my life, like the migrating birds referenced in the play, just doing something - which gives as much meaning as one can hope for.
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