BWW Reviews: THREE SISTERS Presented By Boise State Theatre Arts Department

When I arrived at THREE SISTERS I choose a seat in the second row center, knowing that Anton Chekhov is a character driven play. I wanted to sit and see the actor's faces while they portrayed their characters. While waiting for the show to begin, they did have house music and it was lovely music to listen to. There was a live band of four playing Russian Folk Music to help set the mood: Anastasia Leonova on vocals/guitar, Gordon Reinhart on violin, Michael Baltzell on the balalaika, and Stitch Marker on guitar. It made for a wonderful transition into the world we were about to enter. They had a quality to them that could (almost should) be on CD.

The performance took place in the SPEC center (Special Events Center) on the Boise State University campus. There were no drapes (tormentors or borders), you could see into the wings and the back wall of the theatre itself. They had a projection screen hanging in the back that reflected the outdoors and the memories of the sisters. There were no walls (flats) only the carpet and the furniture to set the scenes. There were two tables to either side of the stage with the stage hands and cast sitting behind. Chekhov doesn't need spectacle, this was an interesting choice.

The show started with the three sisters giving the "director's speech" and walking to places after the musicians left the stage and a short black out. Let the show begin. I thought that the three sisters were very well played by the actresses portraying them: Samantha Berry played Ogla, Tiara Thompson played Masha, and Irina was played by Tess Gregg Worstell. They each had an obvious characteristic that was easy to identify and yet each played it with multiple levels so it never got boring. Olga was the staunch sister who was trying her best to hold everything together. Masha, poor Masha married young and was not in love, at least not at the time she got married and eventually not to the man she was married to. Poor Irina, she just turned 20 and had many men after her yet she was the idealistic sister who wanted to see the world (well, at least Moscow). The supporting cast was wonderful as well. They all were well defined in who they were and believable.

Another interesting innovation they included was foley. It was good to see the sound effect design being done almost assuredly as it had been at the time of the original production. They had the wind wheel, gun shots; multiple sounds that the crew did live every night. The piano was played live as well by Megan Choate. I love how every show will be original for each audience because of the live elements.

Oh, and the costumes! Darrin J Pufall and Keri Fitch did it again. Each sister had her color and they went well with each other. The blue costume (Olga) had a few different shades of blue but they were all in the same family. The black (Masha), oh the black was wonderful because I have issue when there are different shades of black that do not match and all of the shades did. However, I do think that the white (Irina) pant suit was my favorite.

The last song sung by the cast at curtain call seemed a bit out place from the Russian world that they set for the last three hours, but the cast was happy and were enjoying themselves. All in all it was a good production and it would have been nicer to have it run for more than one weekend.

Photo Credits: Taken by Katie Valentine
Pictured (from left to right) Tiara Thompson, Samantha Berry, and Tess Gregg Worstell

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