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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
I think I like this one the best of the Chekhov plays I've read. The sisters were each unique, along with other characters who were dynamic. Overall, it's an interesting plot that devolves as time goes on, in a good way I suppose. I'd like to see this live.
Again. Read for my audition this weekend. I want to play Irina again.
Anyway, it's a theatre classic. I'm a theatre nerd. I'm also existential. I enjoy it. :)
Anyway, it's a theatre classic. I'm a theatre nerd. I'm also existential. I enjoy it. :)
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
The timing to finally read this play was sadly right. Chekhov skillfully describes the daily scenes of a provincial Russian town. People in this city talk a lot but do not hear one another. They have dreams and know what they want but they are not willing to change their destiny, while seemingly having the right means to do so.. In this city intelligent and noble people with the passage of time passively accept the weak and the vulgar taking over their homes, aspirations and lives.
More than 100 years later and I see the same things keep playing in the hearts and minds of Russian people, in my own family. It’s forever sad, amusing, and heartbreaking. I wish there would be a soon end to this curse (or perhaps a willful fate?) that Russians took upon themselves a very long time ago.
More than 100 years later and I see the same things keep playing in the hearts and minds of Russian people, in my own family. It’s forever sad, amusing, and heartbreaking. I wish there would be a soon end to this curse (or perhaps a willful fate?) that Russians took upon themselves a very long time ago.
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I actually saw this play being performed during its short run at the National Theatre in London, back in February 2020. I was exhausted after a long day at work and travelling into the city, wondering to myself why the hell I had bought a single midweek ticket to this show that I didn't know anything about. I was not familiar with the story, the original Chekhov version, Ellams, the ethnic makeup of Nigeria, the Biafran war or the particular effects that colonialism had on this region of the world.
All my fatigue faded the moment I sat in front of that stage, I was enthralled and the play swam around my head for weeks afterwards. The story is simple yet poignant, very human. I felt simultaneously raw and refreshed watching it.
I couldn't let go of this play, and so months later, I decided to read it even though it was still relatively fresh. Since I had already watched this beauty on stage, the actors' voices and the music came flooding back as I read.
Ellams writes in a way that is poetic and rich, his characters are simple but fully fleshed out. They speak with a musical cadence. History and philosophy are woven into the mundane horrors of war. It remains a small family drama, but the relationships shown here are universal.
All my fatigue faded the moment I sat in front of that stage, I was enthralled and the play swam around my head for weeks afterwards. The story is simple yet poignant, very human. I felt simultaneously raw and refreshed watching it.
I couldn't let go of this play, and so months later, I decided to read it even though it was still relatively fresh. Since I had already watched this beauty on stage, the actors' voices and the music came flooding back as I read.
Ellams writes in a way that is poetic and rich, his characters are simple but fully fleshed out. They speak with a musical cadence. History and philosophy are woven into the mundane horrors of war. It remains a small family drama, but the relationships shown here are universal.
I suppose you have to be miserable in a chekhov play if your name is masha