What If They Went to Moscow?
Reviewed by Julyza Commodore
REDCAT
Closed
[Note: This review is part of the Z. Clark Branson/Stage Raw Equity and Inclusion Initiative for Young Journalists. Stage Raw staff are mentoring the young authors, as they build their professional resumes as arts journalists.]
Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters is set at the turn of the 20th century and centers on the lives of three sisters — Irina, Olga and Masha— living in a small Russian town. They are unsatisfied with their monotonous lives, and each has her own personal reason for wanting to escape to Moscow.
A U.S. premiere at REDCAT, What if They Went to Moscow? is an adaptation of Chekhov’s play conceived, written, edited and directed by Christiane Jatahy. This is the second work by Jatahy mounted at REDCAT. Her Julia, based on Strindberg’s Miss Julie, and The Walking Forest (her response to Macbeth) were presented at REDCAT in 2016. The second part of a trilogy, Forest garnered glowing reviews.
In this piece, Jatahy utilizes both theater and cinema, telling the story twice, once on stage live and once through the medium of a live feed from the director’s perspective. It isn’t the same locale as the original; this version is set in modern-day Brazil, with cellphones and cameras frequently used throughout. Still, Moscow represents a form of escape that each sister is in dire need of. Each actress’s portrayal is honest and fleshed out: Isabel Teixeira’s Olga, Julia Bernart’s Irina and Stella Rabello’s Maria (a stand-in for Chekhov’s Masha). It is very apparent from their raw, transparent performances that they lived in their characters’ shoes.
The original and the adaptation are similar in that they both emphasize the sisters’ desire to change their lives. Also, their yearning for change is apparent in both the live feed and the stage performance. However, What if They Went to Moscow? differs from the original in that the focus on the three sisters is stronger. Although their relationships with other people are mentioned, these others aren’t often seen and, in Irina’s case, a boy whom we imagine to be her boyfriend is never seen at all.
Jatahy’s choice to focus on the sisters is a good one because it hones in on the the idea of change and what we must do to acquire it in our lives. What each sister wants is made easy to understand. The suicidal Irina wants to live a more exciting life where work is meaningful. Olga, feeling invisible, regrets not having children while Maria despises her husband and wants out of their marriage.
There is even a quote that stuck with me at the end of the show: “Change is like dying”— spoken by Maria.
One of the difficult aspects of the play is the language. The play is in Portuguese. (There are subtitles.) Also, theatergoers have the opportunity to watch the show twice (cinematically and theatrically) which helps them to piece together the show as a whole, especially if they miss something the first time they see it.
As far as the venue and overall viewing, whether or not you see the film first or see it performed in the theater is solely based on when you buy your ticket. It is best to arrive early — especially for the cinema — or you may have difficulty reading the subtitles. This was a problem I had at times due to being seated towards the back. Luckily, this was not a problem in the theater as the venue is a black box theater with less than 300 seats.
The experience of viewing a piece of work both cinematically and live onstage in one day is intriguing and kept me interested throughout. Lively, complicated, interesting and every word in between is what I would use to describe What If They Went to Moscow.
