Five clowns clamber into the Chekhovian fine room - vicious death, a fire and boredom are promised.
By Anton Chekhov. Premiered on February 27, 2020. Cancelled due to the corona pandemic but continues to be played on VBT Play
Three Sisters is a Russian classic, played over and over again for over a hundred years.
Why is that, you might ask? Well, because the play asks questions that we cannot answer.
Now it's the turn of Västerbottenteatern. Five clowns rise from the theater dust
to breathe new life into the three sisters and their husbands, suitors and lovers.
Because the meaning of life needs to be discussed again; - When does real life begin? Is it going on
is it here or is it somewhere else? Does real life begin when you move to
Umeå, Stockholm or Moscow? Or is it that real life is at the water's edge in
Hamptjärn on a sunny Tuesday evening? Is it in work, in love or in family that we should find
meaning?
But with clowns
Chekhov's play is about our shortcomings and the dreams that we don't always
have the power to realize - about life simply being what it is. This is precisely why
Three Sisters is so well suited to clowns. They take their job very seriously - after all
they have a Russian gem in their hands with this story - but things don't always go
as they intended. Unlike us ordinary people, clowns do not hide their
mistakes. Instead of putting up a pretty front, they let us see the cracks, their shortcomings
and their fragility, they simply show what it is to be human.
With both clown noses and half masks, the actors' expressions are enhanced and they
get in touch with a more naive and intuitive part of themselves. The tragic simply becomes
even more tragic and, above all, the funny becomes even funnier!
Welcome to a clown and mask theater that will not be like anything you have seen before. We will
offer a classic text, improvisations, tears, laughter, music and madness.
ENG: Chekov's classic Three Sisters in a clown version. Death, fire, imaginative costumes
and five clowns that perform in front of the audience in a state of absolute here and now.
Anything can happen! In Swedish.
TIP! Wednesday, March 11 at 18:00, Västerbottensteatern
FÖRSNACK - TRE SYSTRAR Free admission
Come a little before the performance and meet the director Camilla Persson and some of the cast who will tell you about the work behind the scenes.
Why put on Three Sisters - with clowns in the roles? How does clowning differ from the actor's regular work? And what makes Three Sisters a classic?
Camilla Persson is a director and clown actor, with roots in Västerbotten.
The conversation is led by Tora von Platen, dramaturge at Västerbottensteatern.
PRESS and PUBLIC REACTIONS
Clowns are what Chekhov's "Three Sisters" needs... Five clowns step right into Anton Chekhov's classic "Three Sisters", where they rearrange the Russian upper class. It is much more hilarious, warm and accessible than the original. - Norran 200229
Three sisters with finesse and giggles.
...they also have to improvise and remember to incorporate conversations with strangers in the audience into their act - and they do this with comic fine, impressive timing and a
hefty dose of self-distance. You can hate clowns, but not these clowns. You can't. -VK200229
With clowns, man is understandable. Challenging good (theatrical) taste is the very point of the ugly, crude, naively insightful and funny clown theater. The voices are loud and the volume is high. But despite all the gags, twists and improvisations, the core of the classic play is exposed. Longing, disappointment, humiliation, patheticness - here is man at his most ridiculous, but also most understandable and lovable. - Expressen 200407 (review of digital theater version)
Saw the rehearsal yesterday.. 🤣🙌🤣 ...Laughed so hard my jaw hurt 😂, - Anna audience voice
Very entertaining....highly recommended 👍👏😂, - Kerstin audience voice
Wonderful performance!!! Must be seen and experienced!!! Full pot, - Anna audience vote
So very good! Lots of laughter , - Lena audience voice
Thank you very much. Thank you for a boundlessly wonderful performance. The jaw muscles ache, the diaphragm flutters, but the brain is cleared and the heart is happy! - Torbjörn, audience voice.
PRODUCTION
Script: Anton Chekhov
Publisher: Colombine Teaterförlag
Translation: Lars Kleberg
Direction & script adaptation: Camilla Persson
Stage design & costumes: Linda Tubler
Mask & wig: Helena Andersson
Lighting design: Erik Nordlander
Sound design: Henrik Alakangas
Cast: Matilda Dahl, Niklas Larsson Lirell, Sonja Lindblom, Vilgot Paulsen, Adam Stanišić Stålhammar
Production of stage technology, set design, decor and costumes: Teaterns ateljéer
Clown noses: Isabel Löfgren Roberts and Karl H Granberg
Music rehearsal: Mattias Kågström
In the performance we play music by Matti Bye and Klaus Wunderlich
We also perform songs by Bonnie Taylor, Mark James and Violetta Parra
Photographer poster & press images: Patrick Degerman
Retouching poster images: LisaLove Bäckman
Graphic design: Sofia Lindblom
Technical Director: Ronny Andersson
Artistic Director: Bobo Lundén
CEO/Publisher in charge: Fransesca Quartey
