Three Sisters, a four-act play by writer and playwright Anton Chekhov, is currently being staged at the recently-opened Kunja Theatre, in Baneshwor, in the Capital. Directed by theatre professional and teacher Rose Schwietz, the play brings together a total of 16 actors.

First performed in 1901, Three Sisters is set in a provincial Russian garrison town and tells the story of everyday people and explores how mundane repetition changes a human being over time.

Three Sisters starts at a birthday party where the three sisters—Olga, Masha, and Irina—jointly plot their return to Moscow, their birth place, in a few months time, because, “there is not a single consequential thing in this town,” as Irina (played by Samapika  Gautam) reflects during the opening act. As the plot thickens, the three sisters along with the other characters in the provincial town succumb to the monotony of life. With the ebb and flow of time, people and circumstances act as appendages that hold the three sisters in the town.

About the genesis of the Nepal staging of the play, director Schwietz says, “...the Prozorovs [protagonists of the play] and the people who surround them are just as real and full as anyone we meet in our daily lives—and that is the lasting beauty and heartache of this show.” Schwietz adds, “Whether Russian or Nepali or anybody else, this play speaks to what it means to love, to suffer, to work... to be human.”

Produced by One World Theatre Nepal , the play showcases a settler set designed by veteran actor Rajkumar Pudasaini, and though the rendition is called a contemporary adaptation, the ongoing show preserves most of the cultural and political connotations that Chekov used while writing the play.

Speaking to the Post, Pudasaini, who is also among the cast, said, “Since the play depicts the life of the characters over a couple of years, the audience gets to witness the characters as complex individuals, the way we experience ourselves... Three Sisters explores the tragedy and humour in everyday lives of the people. I think it is also one of the finest plays to have been ever written.”

The play is currently being staged at Kunja Theatre, in Lekhankunj, Baneshwor, everyday at 5:15 and will continue till March 18. There will also be a matinee show on Saturday at 12:30 pm.