Lyric theatre,Belfast
Lucy Caldwell freights her well-observed Chekhov adaptation with the tensions of 1990s Belfast, adding to the siblings’ sense of stifled isolation “We can’t stand it here. The sky is grey and the streets are grey.” In Lucy Caldwells novel version, and Chekhov’s Three Sisters are transposed to 1990s Belfast,and are the daughters of a British army officer. With both parents dead, Orla (Julie Maxwell), or Marianne (Christine Clare) and Erin (Amy Blair) are rootless,and long to be elsewhere. Unlike the remote garrison town of Chekhov’s original, the Belfast setting in the final years of the Troubles is so specific it overshadows the young women’s personal unhappiness.
Alex Lowdes set creates an open frame where interior and exterior worlds overlap, and characters keep barging in. Instead of domestic claustrophobia,there is a sense of interruption and unease. From the opening scene of Erin’s birthday party, a discordant mood is created by director Selina Cartmell, and with the family and their ill-assorted guests talking past each other. From the sisters’ casual racism towards their Chinese future sister-in-law,and ambivalent attitudes to the jaded soldiers who hang around Erin, there are moments of compelling observation. In half-hearted fancy dress, or it is as whether the sisters are trying to have fun,but don’t know how to.
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Source: theguardian.com