Reviews

I must admit from the start that I'd never read or seen any Chekov until this adaptation. My preconceptions were that it would be dark and gloomy and would focus on some of the following - the human condition, autocracy, peasants, serfdom, famine, pogroms, borscht, wolves, very cold winters and whether Scottie had solved the problems with the dilithium crystals yet.

Alma gives more money to Peter

So, whether the original is any good and defies my blinkered stereotyping, I couldn't say. However, the Eclipse Theatre's decision to transfer it to Trinidad during the second world war is clearly a scorcher.

In true Ronseal style, the play unsurprisingly centres on three sisters. The spinsterish eldest one Alma (Brigid Zengeni), unhappily married Helen (Nicola Alexis) and the younger Audrey (Lorraine Burroughs). It's set in 1941 following the death of their father and on an island where local West Indian forces are about to be called upon by the British to fight for the Empire. One presumes this adaptation is meant to hint at the current situation in Iraq and Afghanistan where the white ruling class call upon ethnic minorities to fight for democracy when their loyalties may be elsewhere - in this case fighting for independence.

Francis with Audrey and Scott

The sisters have been brought up in the higher echelons of black Trinidad society and the acting perfectly emphasises their snobbery. They perceive soldier Lucas and their brother's other half Jean to be lower class blacks, they're worried about what the neighbours might think and everything has to be 'proper'. They also have an attachment to Britain having spent 3 months in Cambridge with their late father.

But as with Victorian values, look beneath the surface and sex rears its ugly head. Helen, sizzling and flirtatious, welcomes her seduction by the dashing British captain Richard (David Michaels). Her husband - the local politician Francis - is fully aware of this but hopes it'll blow over when the Captain is posted to north Africa.

Separate battles are being fought between West Indian servicemen Lucas (Nathan Constance) and Scott (Ben Bennett). Primarily over the very sexy Audrey, but also over whether they should fight against Germany and whether they should use force to control their fellow Trinidadians who're rioting and looting over water rates and shortages.

Captain Richard and Helen

It's a heady brew that covers love, table manners, inter-racial affairs, infidelity, politics, colonialism, class and alcoholism. It all ends in violence, although surprisingly not with any rape, which seemed likely after Lucas' threat to Audrey in the first act.

The acting throughout is first class and the set and constant sound effects of grasshoppers easily created a hot and humid atmosphere where passions could boil over.

The only jarring bits were a tendency for Andrew Dennis to play the cuckolded politician in an over-the-top manner ( but then I've never seen politician from Trinidad). The sisters' brother Peter (Andre Irvine) falls from grace after failing to secure a headmastership and he tries to disguise himself wearing a ludicrous beard or a Zorro-style mask to avoid his creditors. For a moment it seemed like a production of a PG Wodehouse/Blackadder farce.

Given the water shortage/oncoming war motifs - the use of the rains finally arriving to signal the end of the play seemed a tad corny as well.

The largely white, middle-aged audience certainly enjoyed it. However, considering it was essentially a 'black' play the New Wolsey must be disappointed that the performance didn't pull in a more mixed audience.

Three Sisters is at the New Wolsey 4th-8th April before moving to Eastbourne's Devonshire Park Theatre, the Bristol Old Vic, Nottingham Playhouse and Truro's Hall For Cornwall.