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Chekhov’s Three Sisters become Four in reimagining of the play
Jewish playwright Molly Spain says Chekhov's work is still relevant today
Chekhov wrote Three Sisters over 125 years ago, yet theatre creative Molly Spain is determined to prove to theatregoers that his work is every bit as relevant today as it was back in 1900. So much show that she has written a play, Four Sisters, which is playing at Barons Court Theatre this week.
“The play is called Four Sisters because in Chekhov’s original script, although the title was Three Sisters there was actually a fourth person, a “bonus sister”, namely Natasha.
“I’ve always loved Chekhov’s work,” says Molly. Born in Colorado, she came to the UK to study for an MFA in Acting at The East15 Acting School. “I was re-reading Three Sisters and thought it would be interesting to take the play and remove every bit of text that did not relate to women.
“It was fascinating and revealed a great deal about Natasha. Her fight to be recognised as one of the sisters, and the pull of inclusion and exclusion of the family dynamics.
“I knew then that I wanted to write a new version of the play, taking some of Chekhov’s words and adding my own, to create what had to be not the Three, but the Four Sisters.”
The 45-minute duration play uses movement and music. An ensemble-driven piece, it dives into the complexities of girlhood, friendship, and the in-between spaces of being alive. Flickering between adulthood and childhood, love and resentment, wanting and contentment, Four Sisters offers a visceral exploration of what is, what was, and what might be. Caught in a surreal space where past and present intertwine, four actors- queer, immigrants, and inner children- search for home, even when they no longer know what “home” means.
Molly is playing the part of Masha and she is joined by another Jewish actor, Sarah Sinzier-Hopkins, who is playing Irina. Director Everleigh Brenner is also Jewish.
Four Sisters is at Barons Court Theatre 7 – 11 October. baronscourthetare.com
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