The first half comprises an abridged version of the Russian playwright Anton Chekov's masterpiece, Three Sisters. Three Sisters is a naturalistic play about the decay of the privileged class in Russia and the search for meaning in the modern world. It describes the lives and aspirations of the Prozorov family, the three sisters (Olga, Masha, and Irina) and their brother Andrei. They are a family who are dissatisfied and frustrated with their present existence. The sisters are refined and cultured young women who grew up in urban Moscow; however for the past eleven years they have been living in a small provincial town. Moscow is a major part of the plot: the sisters are always dreaming of it and constantly express that they will go back. Moscow is the place where they were happiest, and to them it represents perfection. However as the play develops they seem to move further away from their dream.
Chekov's Three Sisters ends with Masha, the eldest sister, sighing: If we wait patiently, one day we will know why we are alive, why we are suffering. If we only knew.

In the second half, an abridged version of Reza de Wet's Drie susters twee, the action has moved on to that one day, nineteen years later, just after the outbreak of the Russian Revolution, on the eve of the family's long awaited departure to Moscow. But everything has changed, everything has decayed: an era has passed, the dream is destroyed. Although Drie susters twee is an original, independent play, and very topical to South Africa, it has, in the blending of pathos and comedy, die magical atmosphere and the musicality of the script, an almost incredible rapport with Chekov's masterpiece.

The Masker Theatre 16 - 19 April 2008, 19:00
Bookings: Marielle at 012 420 3644 or [email protected]