Review Roundup: THREE SISTERS at American Players Theatre

One of Chekov's most well known works, THREE SISTERS will play at The American Players Theatre until September 23. The cast features Nate Burger as Andrei Prozorov, Eliza Stoughton as Natasha, Laura Rook as Olga, Kelsey Brennan as Masha, Rebecca Hurd as Irina, John Taylor Phillips as Kulygin, Chike Johnson as Vershinin, Andrew Rathgeber as Tuzenbach, Ty Fanning as Solyony, Jonathan Smoots as Chebutykin, Xavier Roe as Fedotik, Alejandro Cordoba as Rohde, John Pribyl as Ferapont, and Sarah Day as Anfisa.

See what the critics are saying!

Lindsay Christians, The Cap Times: William Brown directs an emotionally dense, heart-wrenching production of Chekhov's domestic drama, moved forward in time to shortly before the Russian Revolution. With characters paralyzed by inertia, the pacing can feel slow, the staging static. These idle philosophers talk endlessly of Moscow but,like Beckett's tramps, do not move. They marinate in boredom. They repeat themselves in self-defense ("I'm content, I'm content, I'm content"). Still, the emotional depth Brown draws from his actors elevates "Three Sisters" into something quite poignant.

Melissa Hall, BroadwayWorld: The set is one of the most beautiful I've seen at the American Players Theatre. It makes the most of the newly designed space, allowing an open view of the fields behind the stage and incorporating them into the show. William Brown's direction is successful in its simplicity. Three Sisters is a play filled with monologues philosophizing on the purpose of life. Brown keeps the audience focused on the speaker, stripping away distractions. All of the main cast members' transformations over the course of the play are incredibly well done. Through subtle shifts in the way their hair is done and the colors they wear, they become the embodiment of their exhaustion. The sparks of life that we see in the first scene slowly fade into oblivion as they resign themselves to their fate. Praise goes to costume designer Rachel Anne Healy for her deft orchestration of the change. BOTTOM LINE: Three Sisters is a melancholy play. It's full of reflection without much action, but in the hands of these talented performers it's impossible to look away.

Mike Fischer, Journal Sentinel: Initially ranging from ages 20 to 28 in a play spanning five years, newly orphaned sisters Irina (Rebecca Hurd), Masha (Kelsey Brennan) and Olga (Laura Rook) are cultured anomalies in the sort of provincial town Chekhov repeatedly reviled in his stories as backward, hard and dishonest. Their idyllic oasis is relatively intact when we first meet them, during a spring picnic in which the world seems as young and hopeful as Hurd's 20-year-old Irina. Downstage and staring at us with a big smile and faraway eyes, she envisions the family's return to Moscow, the civilized beacon from whence they'd come when their now-deceased father was transferred.Sheltered by the servants she barely notices - Brown continually makes sure that we do - the Irina of Act I can seem naïve. But Hurd never lets us doubt that this youngest sister has a heart as pure as that of oldest sister Olga, embodied by Rook as the sensitive soul Olga remains, despite life's disappointments. Irina will weather still greater disappointments with yet more resilience, as Hurd credibly traces the long dramatic arc of the character in this play who grows most.

Gwendolyn Rice, The Isthmus: As the two women bring their bouquets to the feast, several exuberant (and shirtless) young men tumble down the hill in a good-natured race, frolicking until a photographer urges them to gather for a picture. The group obediently assembles for the photo, but not before the vigor drains from their faces. Clothes are straightened and hair smoothed. Joy is replaced by steely eyes and stoic expressions. They hold the pose while the film is exposed. The image of this day, which will outlive all its participants, is one of dour resolve. The simplicity of these scenes, illustrating the short distance between a life filled with color and energy and one of staid grim monotones, is breathtaking. There are many such moments in the play, directed by William Brown, which chronicles the classic story of three young Russian women who wish in vain to return to Moscow and a gentler time filled with wonderful possibilities. Instead, they face an increasingly dreary life in a provincial town far away from their cosmopolitan upbringing... As the maternal Olga, Rook wears her responsibility like a heavy coat. Her exhaustion and loneliness is palpable as her character is thrust into roles she never wanted. Primly dressed in plain but practical clothes (part of the stunning costume design by Rachel Anne Healy), she carries the keys and watch for the trio, a reluctant disciplinarian.

Paul Kosidowski, Milwaukee Magazine: With a universal idea so central to life as we know it, it's not surprising that Three Sisters is considered Chekhov's greatest play. And the most challenging. APT is exactly the kind of company that's capable of bringing it to life - talented actors who have built working relationships over the years. It's the kind of company, for example, in which Sarah Day and John Pribyl can play small, "tangential" parts and imbue them with substance and pulse (Day's scene in Act Three, in which she is coarsely berated by the haughty Natasha (Eliza Stoughton) is one of the play's most heartbreaking. Of course, no part in Three Sisters is truly tangential, and director Brown masterfully orchestrates the actors' distinct trajectories. He's not afraid of silences, either, which serves the play well. There's nullity in the stretches of quiet that punctuate the lives of these people, and in that emptiness, you can almost hear the wind sweeping across the Russian countryside, reminding everyone that their Moscow is just down the road - beckoning, but always out of reach.

Photo: americanplayers.org

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