Envisioning the Future While Dreaming of the Past The Three Sisters draws us into a world in transition, where the past is rapidly receding, and the future remains uncertain. The Prozorov siblings—Olga, Masha, Andrey, and Irina—are stuck in rural Russia at the turn of the twentieth century. As the Empire inches toward revolution, the Prozorovs, like their native land, are pulled between the poles of past and future. In Russia’s major cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, philosophers dreamed of Utopian futures and the transcendence of mankind, while social reformers mapped out visions of progress. Yet the move toward change was fraught and uneven. Workers suffered abysmal conditions, and women, whose traditional role was subservient to men’s, fought (often unsuccessfully) for basic rights such as education and land ownership. For those living in the countryside, the situation was harsher; although the serfs had been emancipated almost half a century before, most remained mired in poverty. All four of the siblings dream of returning to the Moscow of their childhood. The city they yearn for has grown more potent in their minds with each passing year. But the Moscow they dream of no longer exists; it has been swept along in history’s current with the rest of the country. As the family grows older, one central question—no less compelling to us today—looms ever larger for each of them: How do we fulfill the promise of our younger years? As the dream of going back gives way to the necessity of looking forward, everyone in The Three Sisters strives to create meaning, love, and joy…where they can.
—LYNDA A.H. PAUL, PRODUCTION DRAMATURG
THE
THREE SISTERS Thursday, September 29 at 4PM Friday, September 30 at 3:30PM and 8PM Saturday, October 1 at 4PM Iseman Theater, 1156 Chapel Street
The Studio Series productions are designed to be learning experiences that complement classroom work, providing a medium for students at Yale School of Drama to combine their individual talents and energies toward the staging of collaboratively created works.
2016–17 SEASON <<1>>
SEPTEMBER 29–OCTOBER 1, 2016
YALE SCHOOL OF DRAMA James Bundy, Dean Victoria Nolan, Deputy Dean Joan Channick, Associate Dean PRESENTS
THE
THREE SISTERS ANTON CHEKHOV Translated by CAROL ROCAMORA Directed by JOAN MacINTOSH By
CREATIVE TEAM
CAST
ARTISTIC STAFF
ADMINISTRATION
Choreographer JENNIFER ARCHIBALD
in alphabetical order
Assistant Scenic Designer RIW RAKKULCHON
Associate Managing Director FLO LOW
Assistant Costume Designer MATTHEW R. MALONE
Assistant Managing Director TRENT ANDERSON
Assistant Sound Designer and Engineer ANDREW ROVNER
Management Assistants CAITLIN CROMBLEHOLME GWYNETH MULLER
Projection Engineer TANNIS BOYAJIAN
House Manager EMILY REEDER
The Maid VIRGINIA DOYLE
Assistant Stage Manager OLIVIA PLATH
Kulygin PATRICK FOLEY
PRODUCTION STAFF
Yale School of Drama productions are supported by the work of more than 200 faculty and staff members throughout the year.
Scenic Designer RYAN EMENS Costume Designer SOPHIA H. CHOI Lighting Designer ELIZABETH GREEN Sound Designer TYE HUNT FITZGERALD Projection Designer BRITTANY BLAND Production Dramaturg LYNDA A.H. PAUL Stage Manager BIANCA A. HOOI
Olga ANTOINETTE CROWE-LEGACY Masha JULIANA CANFIELD Natalya ANNA CRIVELLI Solyony EDMUND DONOVAN
Andrey LELAND FOWLER Tusenbach GEORGE HAMPE Vershinin JONATHAN HIGGINBOTHAM Irina COURTNEY JAMISON Fedotik SEAN BOYCE JOHNSON Anfisa STEVEN LEE JOHNSON
Associate Production Manager HARRY BEAUREGARD Technical Director SAYANTEE SAHOO Assistant Technical Director ROSS WICK Master Electrician WILLIAM NEUMAN Crew SHELBY NORTH JESSE RASMUSSEN CHRISTOPHER ROSS-EWART SARAH WOODHAM
SETTING
Act 1 Prozorov drawing room in Perm, Russia, May 5, 1899 Act The same, Early February, 1901 Act 3 Irina and Olga’s attic bedroom, April, 1902 Act 3 The garden, Early October, 1902
THERE WILL BE ONE 15-MINUTE INTERMISSION.
Ferapont PATRICK MADDEN Chebutykin SETAREKI WAINIQOLO
SPECIAL THANKS
Rode CURTIS WILLIAMS
Photo © Irina Vasileva, 2009.
TK
SEPTEMBER 29–OCTOBER 1, 2016
YALE SCHOOL OF DRAMA James Bundy, Dean Victoria Nolan, Deputy Dean Joan Channick, Associate Dean PRESENTS
THE
THREE SISTERS ANTON CHEKHOV Translated by CAROL ROCAMORA Directed by JOAN MacINTOSH By
CREATIVE TEAM
CAST
ARTISTIC STAFF
ADMINISTRATION
Choreographer JENNIFER ARCHIBALD
in alphabetical order
Assistant Scenic Designer RIW RAKKULCHON
Associate Managing Director FLO LOW
Assistant Costume Designer MATTHEW R. MALONE
Assistant Managing Director TRENT ANDERSON
Assistant Sound Designer and Engineer ANDREW ROVNER
Management Assistants CAITLIN CROMBLEHOLME GWYNETH MULLER
Projection Engineer TANNIS BOYAJIAN
House Manager EMILY REEDER
The Maid VIRGINIA DOYLE
Assistant Stage Manager OLIVIA PLATH
Kulygin PATRICK FOLEY
PRODUCTION STAFF
Yale School of Drama productions are supported by the work of more than 200 faculty and staff members throughout the year.
Scenic Designer RYAN EMENS Costume Designer SOPHIA H. CHOI Lighting Designer ELIZABETH GREEN Sound Designer TYE HUNT FITZGERALD Projection Designer BRITTANY BLAND Production Dramaturg LYNDA A.H. PAUL Stage Manager BIANCA A. HOOI
Olga ANTOINETTE CROWE-LEGACY Masha JULIANA CANFIELD Natalya ANNA CRIVELLI Solyony EDMUND DONOVAN
Andrey LELAND FOWLER Tusenbach GEORGE HAMPE Vershinin JONATHAN HIGGINBOTHAM Irina COURTNEY JAMISON Fedotik SEAN BOYCE JOHNSON Anfisa STEVEN LEE JOHNSON
Associate Production Manager HARRY BEAUREGARD Technical Director SAYANTEE SAHOO Assistant Technical Director ROSS WICK Master Electrician WILLIAM NEUMAN Crew SHELBY NORTH JESSE RASMUSSEN CHRISTOPHER ROSS-EWART SARAH WOODHAM
SETTING
Act 1 Prozorov drawing room in Perm, Russia, May 5, 1899 Act The same, Early February, 1901 Act 3 Irina and Olga’s attic bedroom, April, 1902 Act 3 The garden, Early October, 1902
THERE WILL BE ONE 15-MINUTE INTERMISSION.
Ferapont PATRICK MADDEN Chebutykin SETAREKI WAINIQOLO
SPECIAL THANKS
Rode CURTIS WILLIAMS
Photo © Irina Vasileva, 2009.
TK
Envisioning the Future While Dreaming of the Past The Three Sisters draws us into a world in transition, where the past is rapidly receding, and the future remains uncertain. The Prozorov siblings—Olga, Masha, Andrey, and Irina—are stuck in rural Russia at the turn of the twentieth century. As the Empire inches toward revolution, the Prozorovs, like their native land, are pulled between the poles of past and future. In Russia’s major cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, philosophers dreamed of Utopian futures and the transcendence of mankind, while social reformers mapped out visions of progress. Yet the move toward change was fraught and uneven. Workers suffered abysmal conditions, and women, whose traditional role was subservient to men’s, fought (often unsuccessfully) for basic rights such as education and land ownership. For those living in the countryside, the situation was harsher; although the serfs had been emancipated almost half a century before, most remained mired in poverty. All four of the siblings dream of returning to the Moscow of their childhood. The city they yearn for has grown more potent in their minds with each passing year. But the Moscow they dream of no longer exists; it has been swept along in history’s current with the rest of the country. As the family grows older, one central question—no less compelling to us today—looms ever larger for each of them: How do we fulfill the promise of our younger years? As the dream of going back gives way to the necessity of looking forward, everyone in The Three Sisters strives to create meaning, love, and joy…where they can.
—LYNDA A.H. PAUL, PRODUCTION DRAMATURG
THE
THREE SISTERS Thursday, September 29 at 4PM Friday, September 30 at 3:30PM and 8PM Saturday, October 1 at 4PM Iseman Theater, 1156 Chapel Street
The Studio Series productions are designed to be learning experiences that complement classroom work, providing a medium for students at Yale School of Drama to combine their individual talents and energies toward the staging of collaboratively created works.
2016–17 SEASON