Chekhov's "Three Sisters" staged at Natmandol

A scene from the play

Nineteenth century Russian drama legend Anton Chekhov's Impressionistic realism-based play Three Sisters, which is considered as one of best plays ever written, was staged at Natmandol Auditorium, Dhaka University on April 8. The students of the Department of Theatre and Music staged the play. Director, actors and designers re-wrote the play, maintaining the originality of Chekhov's four-act play Three Sisters.

The play starts with a scene where everybody is in a happy mood to observe Irina's (youngest of the three sisters) 20th birthday. In the play, three sisters-- Olga, Masha, and Irina-- along with their brother, Andre, drag out a dull existence in a small provincial garrison town. Only the diversion afforded by the army officers and the ever-present dream of someday moving to Moscow, keep the sisters going from one drab day to the next.

Andre, who has had dreams of becoming a professor, makes a bad marriage that thwarts his ambition and adds to his sisters' troubles. His wife, Natasha becomes a domestic autocrat. Masha, who is married to the pedantic schoolmaster Kulygin, tries to find happiness in an extra marital affair with the army officer Vershinin. The youngest sister, Irina, attempts to escape the drabness of her life by marrying Baron Tuzenbakh, another officer. The removal of the regiment from the town undoes Masha's plan, because Vershinin is married and cannot take her with him. Tuzenbakh is killed in a duel. The three sisters are left as they were in the beginning, deriving some faint pleasure from the cheerful sounds of the regimental band as it marches away, still clinging to their hopes for a better life.

Director Israfil Shahin was realistic in his approach. Besides, the proscenium arch stage, his artistes performed on the floor adjacent to the stage. He has emphasised on "verbal acting" more than physical acting. Through the voice modulation of the artistes, Shahin has tried to express the conflicts-- both internal and external-- of the artistes. However, in the sequence when Masha has a farewell meeting with Vershinin, Shahin did not have the requisite tension.

Kamaluddin Kabir's set is very simple yet stylish-- just a few chairs, tables and a device on the huge stage. His set design follows the western style.

A general light wash was on the stage through out the play, whereas shadow-light effects could be used to catch the mood and tempo of the artistes.

Overall, the artistes performed well. However, a few artistes could not articulate the dialogues properly. Farida Aktar Lima, Afsa Parvin, Ashik Rahman, Syam Khan, Ashik Rahman Lion and Sudip Chakrabarti were impressive. The background music on violin by Ruposhi was an added attraction to the play.