Three Sisters still resonates

OLGA LIVSHIN

Despite being written more than a hundred years ago in czarist Russia, Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters is surprisingly relevant today. Local acting co-op the Only Child Collective is staging the story of hopes, dreams and human failings until April 20 at the Cultch theatre’s Vancity Culture Lab.

Two of the actors, Richard Newman and Rachel Aberle, talked to the Jewish Independent about their involvement in this Only Child Collective production, which just happens to feature numerous Jewish community members, including Newman, Aberle, Rose Frier-Dryden, David Bloom, lighting designer Itai Erdal, director Jane Heyman and producer Jessie Johnston.

Newman is a veteran of the Vancouver acting scene, with 40 years experience behind him, while Aberle graduated from the theatre program Studio 58 in 2009, but for both, it is a first Chekhov role, a dream come true for many actors.

Jewish Independent: Why Chekhov? Why today?

Richard Newman: Chekhov is my second or maybe third favorite author, after Shakespeare and maybe Dickens. He wrote about normal people and the society that keeps them from achieving what they want. Chekhov shows the emotions that are hidden. His characters live in denial of their own faults and the problems they face. The world is coming apart around them, but they are rearranging chairs on their balcony and trying not to notice. It’s like rearranging chairs on the sinking Titanic. People are weak but they hide from the truth – and do silly things.

There is a lot of east-European angst in this play, but it’s universal; like the Bard, [it] appeals to everyone, to all generations.

Rachel Aberle: Superficially, this play might be outdated, taking place in 1900 in Russia, but really it’s all so human. People are the same anywhere, anytime. Only [external] things change. By the end of the play you feel like you know all these people, understand them. My character, Irina, she is searching for what to do with her life, how to be happy. It all resonates here and today.

JI: What are your thoughts on this particular play?

RN: All the characters are looking for love, for purpose, for the meanings of their lives. They are intelligent but surprisingly un-self-aware. They want to make sense of their lives, want something to change, but they’re not going to change themselves.

The family lives in a small provincial town, where military are the most intelligent people around. They dream of going to Moscow, of meeting new people, but they never go. Why? That’s the question of the play.

The characters are very elitist, can’t imagine life without servants, but they don’t see themselves as spoiled. They can’t take care of themselves, but they don’t realize it.

RA: The play is written very naturally, logically. You know why people say what they say or do what they do. It’s a very sad play. It’s difficult to play against that sadness. I could’ve cried through some scenes, but that’s not what the public wants to see. And besides, people often don’t know when there’s tragedy in their lives. It only becomes clear later.

RN: It’s an ensemble play. When there are 14 people on stage, you have the sense of the entire society, a slice of life: young and old, rich and poor. For an actor, it’s thrilling to watch your friends shine, reach to their top performance.

RA: Everybody in the play has her or his special moment.

JI: Could you tell me about your roles?

RA: My character, Irina, is the youngest of four siblings. She’s been sheltered, coddled all her life. She lives in a more vibrant space than the others, hasn’t experienced disappointment or love yet, although she is trying to find love, to find purpose.

RN: My character is a 60-year-old doctor. He goes through, “What did I do with my life? Nothing, and now it’s almost over.” He is depressed, but you can’t play depressed, so you play what he does not to feel depression. He’s pouring his love to all the four siblings, as if they are all his children.

RA: For me, the four siblings are like the four different aspects of humanity. Olga, the oldest sister, is earth. She is the mother. She nurtured them all. Masha, the second sister, is fire. She’s passionate. She experienced unhappy marriage and was disappointed. Andrey, the only brother, is water. He tries to slip unnoticed through life. He knows his father disapproved of him and he feels ashamed. He doesn’t want attention. Irina, the youngest, is air – youth and hope. She was so sheltered she doesn’t have any tethers to the ground.

Both Newman and Aberle are excited to be in the play, although the cast will only be paid from the proceeds of the ticket sales. “It’s an act of love for all of us,” said Newman. “We all love Chekhov, especially Jane [Heyman]. She wanted to direct this play for a long time, but it’s not easy to finance such a large project. There are 14 cast members and four different sets. At last, her daughter [Johnston] suggested they ask their friends, and the co-op was formed.”

For tickets to Three Sisters, call 604-251-1363 or visit the site tickets.thecultch.com.

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].

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