We all had our temperatures checked. We filled out forms affirming we were Covid-free. We wore our masks, of course. And then we took our seats. In a real theatre. We squirmed in the dark on the hard chairs, separated of course; alone, but together. It was wonderful to be in a theatre again!
This performance had theatre to spare, starting with the spare stage holding a few plain chairs in which actors sat or slumped awaiting our arrival. A long mirrored wall cut across the left side at a diagonal revealing the reflected images of the actors and behind them another stage wall, or the back of it, with the flats and jacks holding it up revealed as if we were in the audience and backstage at the same time.
This is a Three Sisters of surprises and many subtleties despite the sometimes glaring music with bass notes that vibrated the mirrored wall (and our rib cages), blurring the figures on the stage.There is frenetic action, dancing, shouting but also long silent moments.These long silences promote contemplation of all the ambiguities and indeterminacies of this play.
It is a Three Sisters filleted and displayed, turned inside out, exposing the organs and the bones, just like the bones of the stage set, the ribs of the flats, the jacks holding up the wall. We are both inside and outside, looking sometimes at the actors, sometimes at their reflection, always seeing and hearing more than we would usually see but for the Belgian director Luk Percival's mind and the Polish actors of TR Warszawa at work on this great classic text. Altogether, most satisfying night at the theatre.
3Sisters based on Anton Chekhov's play Three Sisters.
Adaptation and direction by Luk Perceval.
Premiere in Warsaw June 20, 2021. TR Warszawa co-production with Helena Modrzejewska National Stary Theatre in Kraków.
