Three Sisters, Everyman, Cheltenham

From the archive, first published Thursday 30th Mar 2006.

CHEKHOV, Calypso style, puts a different spin on the playwright's Three Sisters, as interpreted by Mustapha Matura.

Relocated to 1941 wartime Trinidad, the tale takes on new life in the sultry climes of the West Indies, accentuating the themes of love and longing.

These impact mostly on Audrey (Lorraine Burroughs) and Helen (Nicola Alexis), with the younger Audrey the object of the attentions of soldiers, Lucas and Scott.

The uncultured Lucas (Nathan Constance) is wasting his pursuit of Audrey but the more romantic Scott (Ben Bennett) begins to win over the younger sister.

Helen, meanwhile, trapped in a stale marriage, becomes taken with the suave British officer, Richard (David Michaels), himself married, who reciprocates Helen's overtures.

Amid all this simmering passion, oldest sister Alma (Brigid Zengeni) is a matriarchal figure in the wake of the recent death of the siblings' father.

Winsome memories of a spell when the family lived in Cambridge have overtones of empire, as the link between Britain and what is now the Commonwealth rears its head.

Inter-racial relationships also figure in the affair between Helen and Richard, which is a pure love story but cannot help but hark back, albeit tenuously, to the time when the white man held sway over the subjugated indigenous population. The play heads towards a dramatic climax, helped on its way by fine performances all round in an inventive and thoroughly reworking of a classic.

Review by Peter McMillan

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