presented by the
Oberlin College Theater and
Dance Program
Compliments of River Tree Web Design
Paul Schmidt's American Translation of Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters, is much more than a drama about three sisters longing to go to Moscow, this is a universal story about endurance and hope. Chekhov's masterpiece is about the mix of comedy and tragedy in life - passion and pettiness, elation and frustration, love, and death. Though written over 100 years ago, Three Sisters continues to offer a wry look into the pitfalls of our own modern world.
Performers and Production Team
The January Winter Term at Oberlin College encompasses a month of intensive study where faculty, staff, and students may immerse themselves in the craft of theater. Three Sisters includes a large and diversified cast including:Equity Guest Actor Haratine, as Vershinin
Associate Professor of Dance Nusha Martynuk, as Anfisa, the Prozorov's 80-year-old nurse
Jill Donnelly '04 as Olga;
Amy Flanagan '04 as Masha;
Hallie Gnatovich '04 as Irina.The remaining ensemble of Oberlin student performers include:
Zak Fishman '06 as their brother Andrey;
Anne Johnson '05 as Natasha, his wife;
Thomas Taylor '04 as Kulygin, Masha's husband;
Aaron Helgeson '04 as Baron Tuzenbach;
Bacilio Mendez '04 as Solyony, a captain;
Ben Sinclair '06 as Chebutykin, army doctor;
Michael Blejer '06 as Fedotik, second lieutenant;
Adam Tate '04 as Rohde, second lieutenant;
Rick Sahlin '05 as Ferapont, elderly janitor at the County Council
Shelby Frantz '05 as the maid.In addition to director Wright, the Oberlin production team of professional staff and students includes:
Managing Director/Technical Director Michael Louis Grube, associate professor of theater;
Scenic Designer Damen Mroczek, lecturer in theater;
Costume Designer Chris Flaharty, associate professor of theater;
Lighting/Sound Designer Jen Groseth, lecturer in theater;
Costumer JoEllen Cuthbertson, lecturer in theater;
Stage Manager Matt Ozawa '04;
Assistant Stage Managers Genevieve Bergeret '04 and Sarah-Violet Bliss '06.Synopsis
Three Sisters is a subtle and revealing look at life in provincial Russia. Three young women - the Sergeyevna sisters, Olga, Masha, and Irina - are the orphaned daughters of a military commander, who died after moving from Moscow to a far-off garrison town in the middle of Russia. Olga has become an unwilling school teacher, while Irina has settled for a dull job at the telegraph office. Masha has married a high school teacher, and their beloved brother's marriage to a pushy local is no greater match. There is little to satisfy the sisters' upbringing or aspirations. They dream of returning to Moscow and escaping their monotonous, crude existence. The sisters sustain themselves by conversing with the soldiers of the local regiment, the one source of refinement in the backwoods of Russia. Masha courts a flirtation with the honorable Colonel Vershinin. Yet, in the end the sisters must accept the fateful pattern of their existence - dreams will be denied, but despite all, life will be lived.