“With love to lead the way, I’ve found more clouds of gray / Than any Russian play could guarantee”
So go the lyrics of the Gershwin classic But Not for Me.
You can only assume it’s a reference to Chekhov.
The Russian playwright’s meditation on melancholy – and whether love (or work) is its cause or its cure – is also a classic.
Can you really claim to be educated in modern theatre if you haven’t seen Chekhov’s big four: The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters?
This production by Last Waltz gives you the opportunity to fulfil part of the course requirements with only a three hour commitment (including interval.)
The translation by Laurence Senelick retains the original setting, and the design team under director Clara Voda effectively evoke the world of pre-Revolutionary Russia.
Chekhov is rightfully famed for the truthfulness of his work. And this production is true to that – in a rather provocative way. Vocal performances sometimes push to a realism that repudiates any assumption that art is a finely crafted thing: sometimes actors are too soft or too loud or too giggly. (Life, though, is all these things.) Occasionally, dialogue seems ad libbed, which may be indicative of a complete immersion in the reality of the characters, or it might just be ad libbing.
These bold choices encouraged me to consider the value of the original play. If we value Chekhov because he is truthful, it’s not because he presents an accurate representation of the human condition. It’s difficult to relate to these self-indulgent middle-class whingers. (Just go to Moscow, for God’s sake!) If we were ever meant to relate to their plight, then I suspect that time has passed (at least for me) and Chekhov can be safely dropped from the (fictitious & facetious) curriculum.
But I don’t think representing the human condition is what Chekhov really does. Instead, he gives us human behaviour, warts and all. And that’s the gift of this production.
Paul Gilchrist
Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov (based on a translation by Laurence Senelick)
presented by Last Waltz Productions,
at the Old Fitz until May 9.
Image by Robert Miniter
Theatre Red 
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