Small Lives/Big Dreams
Friday, February 5, 2010
1: Feather/J.C./Alannah
2: Mary/Lyla/Shonie
Instructions:
1. Read through the following material.
2. Create a six-minute piece which is an expression of what Small Lives/Big Dreams is ABOUT. You
may select the ingredients to include in your Composition.
3. You have 50 minutes to read and create.
THE SEAGULL
Act I
The play takes place on a country estate owned by Sorin, a former government employee with failing health.
He is the brother of the famous actress Arkadina, who has just arrived at the estate with her lover, Trigorin,
for a brief vacation. In Act I, the people staying at Sorin's estate gather to see a silly play that Arkadina's son
Konstantin has written and directed. The play-within-a-play stars Nina, a young girl who lives on a
neighboring estate, as the "soul of the world." The play is his latest attempt at creating a new theatrical form,
and resembles a dense symbolist work. Arkadina laughs at the play, finding it ridiculous and
incomprehensible, while Konstantin storms off in disgrace. Act I also sets up the play's many romantic
triangles. The schoolteacher Medvedenko loves Masha, the daughter of the estate's steward. Masha, in turn,
is in love with Konstantin, who is in love with Nina. When Masha tells the kindly old doctor Dorn about her
longing, he helplessly blames the moon and the lake for making everybody feel romantic.
Act II
Act II takes place in the afternoon outside of the estate, a few days later. After reminiscing about happier
times, Arkadina engages the house steward Shamrayev in a heated argument and decides to leave
immediately. Nina lingers behind after the group leaves, and Konstantin shows up to give her a seagull that
he has shot. Nina is confused and horrified at the gift. Konstantin sees Trigorin approaching, and leaves in a
jealous fit. Nina asks Trigorin to tell her about the writer's life. He replies that it is not an easy one. Nina says
that she knows the life of an actress is not easy either, but she wants more than anything to be one. Trigorin
sees the seagull that Konstantin has shot and muses on how he could use it as a subject for a short story: "A
young girl lives all her life on the shore of a lake. She loves the lake, like a seagull, and she's happy and free,
like a seagull. But a man arrives by chance, and when he sees her, he destroys her, out of sheer boredom.
Like this seagull." Arkadina calls for Trigorin and he leaves as she tells him that she has changed her mind,
and they will not be leaving immediately. Nina lingers behind, enthralled with Trigorin's celebrity and
modesty, and she gushes, "My dream!"
Act III
Act III takes place inside the estate, on the day when Arkadina and Trigorin have decided to depart. Between
acts Konstantin attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head, but the bullet only grazed his skull. He
spends the majority of Act III with his scalp heavily bandaged. Nina finds Trigorin eating breakfast and
presents him with a medallion that proclaims her devotion to him using a line from one of Trigorin's own
books: "If you ever need my life, come and take it." She retreats after begging for one last chance to see
Trigorin before he leaves. Arkadina appears, followed by Sorin, whose health has continued to deteriorate.
Trigorin leaves to continue packing. There is a brief argument between Arkadina and Sorin, after which
Sorin collapses in grief. He is helped off by Medvedenko. Konstantin enters and asks his mother to change
his bandage. As she is doing this, Konstantin disparages Trigorin and there is another argument. When
Trigorin reenters, Konstantin leaves in tears. Trigorin asks Arkadina if they can stay at the estate. She flatters
and cajoles him until he agrees to return to Moscow. After she has left, Nina comes to say her final goodbye
to Trigorin and to inform him that she is running away to become an actress, against her parents' wishes.
They kiss passionately and make plans to meet again in Moscow.
Act IV
Act IV takes place during the winter two years later, in the drawing room that has been converted to
Konstantin's study. Masha has finally accepted Medvedenko's marriage proposal, and they have a child
together, though Masha still nurses an unrequited love for Konstantin. Various characters discuss what has
happened in the two years that have passed: Nina and Trigorin lived together in Moscow for a time until he
abandoned her and went back to Arkadina. Nina never achieved any real success as an actress, and is
currently on a tour of the provinces with a small theatre group. Konstantin has had some short stories
published, but is increasingly depressed. Sorin's health is failing, and the people at the estate have
telegraphed for Arkadina to come for his final days. Most of the play's characters go to the drawing room to
play a game of bingo. Konstantin does not join them, and spends this time working on a manuscript at his
desk. After the group leaves to eat dinner, Konstantin hears someone at the back door. He is surprised to find
Nina, whom he invites inside. Nina tells Konstantin about her life over the last two years. She starts to
compare herself to the seagull that Konstantin killed in Act II, then rejects that and says "I am an actress."
She tells him that she was forced to tour with a second-rate theatre company after the death of the child she
had with Trigorin, but she seems to have a newfound confidence. Konstantin pleads with her to stay, but she
is in such disarray that his pleading means nothing. She embraces Konstantin, and leaves. Despondent,
Konstantin spends two minutes silently tearing up his manuscripts before leaving the study. The group
reenters and returns to the bingo game. There is a sudden gunshot from off-stage, and Dorn goes to
investigate. He returns and takes Trigorin aside. Dorn tells Trigorin to somehow get Arkadina away, for
Konstantin has just killed himself.
UNCLE VANYA
Act I
A garden in the family estate of Serebryakov. Astrov and Marina discuss how old he has grown, and how he
feels bored with his life as a country doctor. Vanya enters, yawning from a nap, the three complain about
how all order has been disrupted since the professor and his wife, Yelena, arrived. As they’re talking,
Serebryakov, Yelena, Sonya, and Telegin return from a walk. Vanya calls the professor “a learned old dried
mackerel,” criticizing him for his pomposity and the smallness of his achievements. Vanya’s mother, Maria
Vasilyevna, who idolizes Serebryakov, objects to her son’s derogatory comments. Vanya also praises the
professor’s wife, Yelena, for her beauty, arguing that faithfulness to an old man like Serebryakov means
silencing youth and emotions — an immoral waste of vitality. Astrov is forced to depart to attend a patient,
but not before delivering a speech on the preservation of trees, a subject he is very passionate about. Act I
closes with Yelena becoming exasperated as Vanya declares his love for her.
Act II
Serebryakov’s dining room, several days later. It is late at night. Before going to bed, Serebryakov complains
of being in pain and of old age. Astrov arrives, having been sent for by Sonya, but the professor refuses to
see him. After Serebryakov is asleep, Yelena and Vanya talk. She speaks of the discord in the house, and
Vanya speaks of dashed hopes. He feels he’s misspent his youth, and he associates his unrequited love for
Yelena with the devastation of his life. Yelena refuses to listen. Alone, Vanya questions why he did not fall
in love with Yelena when he first met her ten years before, when it would have been possible for the two to
have married and had a happy life together. At that time, Vanya believed in Serebryakov’s greatness and
loved him; now those beliefs are gone and his life feels empty. As Vanya agonizes over his past, Astrov
returns, the worse for drink, and the two talk together. Sonya chides Vanya for his drinking, and responds
pragmatically to his reflections on the futility of a wasted life, pointing out that only work is truly fulfilling.
Outside, a storm is gathering and Astrov talks with Sonya about the suffocating atmosphere in the house;
Astrov says Serebryakov is difficult, Vanya is a hypochondriac, and Yelena is charming but idle. He laments
that it’s a long time since he loved anyone. Sonya begs Astrov to stop drinking, telling him he is beautiful
and should create rather than simply destroying himself. The two discuss love, during which it becomes clear
that Sonya is in love with the Doctor and that he is unaware of her feelings.
When the doctor leaves, Yelena enters and makes peace with Sonya, after an apparently long period of
mutual anger and antagonism. Trying to resolve their past difficulties, Yelena reassures Sonya that she had
strong feelings for her father when she married him, though the love proved false. The two women converse
at cross purposes, with Yelena confessing her unhappiness and Sonya gushing about the doctor’s virtues. In a
happy mood, Sonya leaves to ask the professor if Yelena may play the piano. Sonya returns with his negative
answer, which quickly dampens the mood.
Act III
Vanya, Sonya, and Yelena are in the living room of Serebryakov’s house, having been called there by
Serbryakov. Vanya calls Yelena a water nymph and urges her, once again, to break free. Sonya complains to
Yelena that she has loved Astrov for six years and that because she is not beautiful, he doesn’t notice her.
Yelena volunteers to question Astrov and find out if he’s in love with Sonya. Sonya is pleased, but before
agreeing she wonders whether uncertainty is better because then, at least, there is hope.
When Yelena asks Astrov about his feelings for Sonya, he says he has none and concludes that Yelena has
brought up the subject of love to encourage him to confess his own emotions for her. Astrov kisses Yelena,
and Vanya witnesses the embrace. Upset, Yelena begs Vanya to use his influence so that she and the
professor can leave immediately. Before Serebryakov can make his announcement, Yelena conveys to Sonya
the message that Astrov doesn’t love her.
Serebryakov proposes that he solve the family’s financial problems by selling the estate, using the proceeds
to invest in interest-bearing paper and buy a villa for himself and Yelena in Finland. Angrily, Vanya asks
where he, Sonya, and his mother would live. He protests that the estate belongs to Sonya and that Vanya has
never been appreciated for the self-sacrifice it took to rid the property of debt. As Vanya’s anger mounts, he
begins to rave against the professor, blaming him for the failure of his life, wildly claiming that without
Serbryakov to stop him, he could have been a second Schopenhauer or Dostoevsky. In despair, he cries out to
his mother, but instead of comforting her son, Maria insists that Vanya listen to the professor. Serebryakov
insults Vanya, who storms out of the room. Yelena begs to be taken away from the country and Sonya pleads
with her father on Vanya's behalf. Serebryakov exits to confront Vanya further. A shot is heard from offstage
and Serebryakov returns, being chased by Vanya, who is wielding a loaded pistol. He fires the pistol again,
point blank at the professor, but misses. He throws it down in disgust and sinks into a chair.
Act IV
As the final act opens, a few hours later, Marina and Telegin wind wool and discuss the planned departure of
Serebryakov and Yelena. When Vanya and Astrov enter, Astrov says that in this district only he and Vanya
were “decent, cultured men” and that ten years of “narrow-minded life” have made them vulgar. Vanya has
stolen a vial of Astrov’s morphine, presumably to commit suicide; Sonya and Astrov beg him to return the
narcotic, which he eventually does.
Yelena and Serebryakov bid everyone farewell. When Yelena says goodbye to Astrov, she admits to having
been carried away by him, embraces him, and takes one of his pencils as a souvenir. Serebryakov and Vanya
make their peace, agreeing all will be as it was before. Once the outsiders have departed, Sonya and Vanya
pay bills, Maria reads a pamphlet, and Marina knits. Vanya complains of the heaviness of his heart, and
Sonya speaks of living, working, and the rewards of the afterlife: “We shall hear the angels, we shall see the
whole sky all diamonds, we shall see how all earthly evil, all our sufferings, are drowned in the mercy that
will fill the whole world. And our life will grow peaceful, tender, sweet as a caress. . . . In your life you
haven’t known what joy was; but wait, Uncle Vanya, wait. . . . We shall rest.”
THREE SISTERS
Act I
Act one begins with Olga (the eldest of the sisters) working as a teacher in a school, but at the end of the play
she is made Headmistress, a promotion she had no interest in. Masha, the middle sister and the artist of the
family (she was trained as a concert pianist), is married to Fiodor Ilyich (Koolyghin), a schoolteacher. At the
time of their marriage, Masha, younger than he, was enchanted by what she took to be wisdom, but seven
years later, she sees through his pedantry and his clownish attempts to compensate for the emptiness between
them. Irena, the youngest sister, is still full of expectation. She speaks of her dream of going to Moscow and
meeting her true love. It was in Moscow that the sisters grew up, and they all long to return to the
sophistication and happiness of that time. Andrey is the only boy in the family and the sisters idolize him. He
is in love with Natalia Ivanovna (Natasha), who is somewhat common in relation to the sisters and suffers
under their glance. The play begins on the first anniversary of their father's death, but it is also Irena's Saint's
Day, and everyone, including the soldiers (led by the gallant Vershinin) bringing with them a sense of noble
idealism, comes together to celebrate it. At the very close of the act, Andrey exultantly confesses his feelings
to Natasha in private and asks her to marry him. It is suggested that he is pushed to do so by the fact that she
is being made fun of by the rest of the party.
Act II
Act two begins about 21 months later with Andrey and Natasha married with their first child (offstage), a
baby boy. Natasha begins to show a sense of superiority by establishing that Olga and Irena should share a
room so her son can have Irena's which she claims is warmer. There is a hint of a switching of power within
the household. Natasha is having an affair with Protopopov, Andrey's superior, a character who is mentioned
but never seen onstage. Masha comes home flushed from a night out, and it is clear that she and her
companion, Lieutenant Colonel Vershinin, are giddy with the secret of their mutual love for one another.
Little seems to happen but that Natasha manipulatively squelches the plans for a party in the home, but the
resultant quiet suggests that all gaiety is being squelched as well. The play turns on such subtle, life-like
touches. Toozenbach and Soliony declare their love for Irena.
Act III
Act three takes place about a year later in Olga and Irena's now shared room. There has been a fire in the
town, and, in the crisis, people are passing in and out of the room, carrying blankets and clothes to give aid.
Olga, Masha and Irena are angry with their brother, Andrey, for mortgaging their home, keeping the money
to pay off his gambling debts and conceding all his power to his wife. However, when faced with Natasha's
cruelty to their aged family servant Anfisa, Olga's own best efforts to stand up to Natasha come to naught.
Masha, alone with her sisters, confides in them her romance with Vershinin ("I love, love, love that man.").
At one point, Koolyghin (her husband) blunders into the room, doting ever more foolishly on her, and she
stalks out. Irena despairs at the common turn her life has taken, the life of a schoolteacher, even as she roils
at the folly of her aspirations and her education ("I can't remember the French for 'window'.") Out of her
resignation, supported in this by Olga's realistic outlook, Irena decides to accept Toozenbach's offer of
marriage even though she does not love him. Chebutykin drunkenly stumbles on and smashes a clock
belonging to the sister's and Andrey's mother, whom he loved. Andrey gives vent to his self-hatred,
acknowledges his own awareness of life's folly and his disappointment in Natasha's character, and begs his
sisters' forgiveness for everything.
Act IV
In the fourth and final act, outdoors behind the home, the soldiers, who by now are friends of the family, are
preparing to leave the area. A flash-photograph is taken. There is an undercurrent of tension because Soliony
has challenged the Baron (Toozenbach) to a duel, but Toozenbach is intent on hiding it from Irena. He and
Irena share a heartbreakingly delicate scene in which she confesses that she cannot love him, likening her
heart to a piano whose key has been lost. Just as the soldiers are leaving, a shot is heard, and Toozenbach's
death in the duel is announced shortly before the end of the play. Masha has to be pulled, sobbing, from
Vershinin's arms, but her husband willingly, compassionately and all too generously accepts her back, no
questions asked. Olga has reluctantly accepted the position of permanent headmistress of the school where
she teaches and is moving out. She is taking Anfisa with her, thus rescuing the elderly woman from more of
Natasha's blunt cruelties. Irena's fate is uncertain but, even in her grief at Toozenbach's death, she wants to
persevere in her work as a teacher. Natasha remains as the chatelaine, in charge and in control—of
everything. ("What is this fork doing here?" Natasha hollers.). Andrey is stuck in his marriage with two
children, the only people that Natasha truly dotes on. As the play closes, the three sisters stand in a desperate
embrace, gazing off as the soldiers depart to the sound of a band's gay march. As Chebutykin sings "Ta-ra-raboom-di-ay" to himself, Olga's final lines call out for an end to the confusion all three feel at life's sufferings
and joy: "If we only knew....If we only knew."
CHERRY ORCHARD
Act I
Act I opens in the early morning hours of a day in May in the nursery of Madame Ranevskaya's ancestral
estate somewhere in the provinces of Russia just after the turn of the 20th Century. Liubov Andreyevna
Ranevskaya returns to her country house with her 17-year old daughter Anya and her German governess
Charlotta Ivanovna , as well as her valet, Yasha, from Paris where they have been living for the past five
years. The trio is met by Varya, Mme. Lyubov's adopted daughter who has overseen the estate in her
absence; Yermolai Alexeevich Lopakhin, a local merchant and family friend; Leonid Andreevich Gayev,
Mme. Ranevskaya's brother; as well as members of the household staff including Duniasha, the
chambermaid who behaves like a refined lady; Seymon Yepikhodov a clumsy clerk in the Ranevskaya
household who has proposed to Duniasha; and the aged footman, Firs, who was once a serf to the
Ranevskaya family and who, after the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, remained in their service for lack of
a better opportunity for work. Duniasha becomes smitten with the cultured Yasha, who steals a kiss from her
while the two are alone.
Mme. Ranevskaya is reminded that the estate will be auctioned in August to pay the estate's mortgage.
Lopakhin offers a plan to save the estate if only she will allow part of it to be developed into summer
cottages. However, this will incur the destruction of the famous cherry orchard which Mme. Ranevskaya
states is nationally known. It is clear that the orchard has become to her a symbol of her youth and childhood.
Other solutions to the debt are also proposed but nothing is resolved and the conversation is diverted to other
topics. While Ranevskaya enjoys the view of the orchard as day breaks, she is surprised by Petya Trofimov, a
young student who acted as tutor to Ranevskaya's son, Grisha. We learn that Grisha drowned five years prior
to the beginning of the play, and that this was a contributing factor to Ranevskaya's fleeing Russia and her
home. Ranevskaya is grief-stricken at the reminder of this tragedy, despite Trofimov's insistence on seeing
her upon her return (much to the consternation of Varya.)
After Ranevskaya retires for the evening, Anya confesses to Varya that their mother is heavily in debt and
their uncle Gayev suggests sending Anya to Yaroslavl where their great aunt lives in the hopes that she will
lend them the money to save the estate. Gayev also reminds Varya that Lophakin is a wealthy man and has
always been enamoured of her, and that a marriage with him would ensure the family's survival. They all go
to bed with a renewed hope that the estate will be saved and the cherry orchard not cut down. Trofimov
stares after the departing Anya and mutters "My Sunshine, my spring" in adoration.
Act II
Act II opens on a road bordering the cherry orchard in mid-summer. The estate is still in jeopardy but the
family seems more concerned with courtships. Yasha and Yepihodov are each attempting to attract the
attentions of Duniasha. The young Anya has fallen in love with Trofimov, infuriating Varya, who herself has
become the subject of rumors that she will be engaged to Lopakhin. Lopakhin tries to steer the conversation
towards the business of the estate but Mme. Ranevskaya reveals the sad truth about her finances and her
relationship with a man in Paris who cruelly took advantage of her money and feelings. The old footman Firs
speaks of the past on the estate before the emancipation of the serfs. The sound of a Jewish band is heard in
the distance and Ranevskaya decides to hold a party and invite them to play. When Trofimov appears,
Lopakhin teases the boy for his being a perpetual student and Trofimov espouses his philosophy of work and
useful purpose to the delight and humor of everyone around. During their conversations, a disheveled vagrant
passes by and begs for money; Ranevskaya thoughtlessly gives him all of her money, despite the
protestations of Varya. Shaken by the disturbance, the family departs for dinner, with Lopakhin futilely
insisting that the cherry orchard be sold to pay down the debt. Anya stays behind to talk with Trofimov, who
disapproves of Varya's constant hawk-like eyes, reassuring Anya that they are "above love." To impress
Trofimov and win his affection, Anya vows to leave the past behind her and start a new life. The two depart
for the river as Varya calls scoldingly in the background.
Act III
Several months have passed, and the evening of Ranevskaya's party has come. Offstage the musicians play as
the family and their guests drink, carouse and entertain themselves. It is also the day of the auction for the
estate and the cherry orchard; Gayev has received a paltry amount of money from his and Ranevskaya's
stingy aunt in Yaroslav, and the family members, despite the general merriment about them, are both anxious
and distracted while they wait for word of their fates. Varya worries about paying the musicians and scolds
Trofimov and their neighbor Pischik for drinking, Dunyasha for dancing and Yepikhodov for playing
billiards. Charlotta entertains the group by performing several magic tricks. Ranevskaya scolds Trofimov for
his constant teasing of Varya, whom he refers to as "Madame Lopakhin." She then urges Varya to marry
Lopakhin, but Varya demurs, reminding her that it is Lopakhin's duty to ask for her hand in marriage, not the
other way around. She says that if she had money she would move as far away from him as possible. Left
alone with Ranevskaya, Trofimov insists that she finally face the truth that the house and the cherry orchard
will be sold at auction. Ranevskaya shows him a telegram she has received from Paris and reveals that her
former lover is ill again and has begged for her to return to his aid. She also reveals that she is seriously
considering joining him, despite his cruel behavior to her in the past. Trofimov is stunned at this news and
the two argue about the nature of love and their respective experiences. Trofimov leaves in a huff but
offstage falls down the stairs and is carried in by the others. Ranevskaya laughs and forgives him for his folly
and the two quickly reconcile. Anya enters declaring a rumour that the cherry orchard has been sold.
Lopakhin arrives with Gayev, both of whom are exhausted from the trip and the day's events. Gayev is
distant, virtually catatonic and goes to bed without saying a word of the outcome of the auction. When
Ranevskaya asks who bought the estate, Lopakhin reveals that he himself has purchased it and intends to
attack the orchard with his axe. Varya, enraged, hurls the keys to the estate on the floor, and Lopakhin, halfdrunk and smug, tells how he outbid everyone and gleefully (and angrily) celebrates his victory. Ranevskaya,
distraught, clings to Anya, who tries to calm her and reassure her that the future will be better now that the
cherry orchard has been sold.
Act IV
It is several weeks later, once again in the nursery (as in Act I), only this time the room is being packed and
taken apart as the family prepares to leave the estate forever. Lopakhin arrives with champagne as a goingaway present but Ranevskaya snubs him - despite his best intentions for the family he loves, she views him
as a destroyer of her youth and happiness. Trofimov enters in search of his galoshes, and he and Lopakhin
exchange opposing world views. Anya enters and reprimands Lopakhin for ordering his workers to begin
chopping down the cherry orchard while the family is still in the house. Lopakhin apologizes and rushes out
to stop them for the time being in the hopes that he will be somehow reconciled with them. Anya also
inquires about Firs' health and Yasha informs her that he has been taken to a hospital that morning. Dunyasha
enters and begs Yasha for some sort of affectionate parting; Yasha for his part wants nothing to do with her
or life in Russia, as he hungers to return to Paris and to live in style. Charlotta enters, lost and in a daze, and
insists that the family find her a new position. Gayev and Ranevskaya return to say goodbye to the room
where they grew up and spent their childhood. Gayev gaily announces that he has a job at the local bank, and
Raneskaya reveals that she is indeed returning to Paris to be with her former lover. She also scolds Lopakhin
for not yet asking Varya to marry him. Lopakhin concedes to do so, and the rest withdraw to give the two
some privacy. When Varya enters (knowing that he will propose to her), Lopakhin and she converse about
the weather and various mundane subjects, both trying to find a way to reveal their feelings. One of the
workers calls for Lopakhin and he exits hastily without asking Varya to marry him. Varya is devastated and
Ranevskaya comforts her when she returns. The family and their servants all gather to say their respective
goodbyes to the estate and the cherry orchard, one by one departing for their new lives. Ranevskaya tearfully
bids her old life goodbye and leaves as the house is shut up forever. In the darkness Firs wanders into the
room and discovers that they have left without him and boarded him inside the abandoned house to die. He
lies down on the couch and resigns himself to his fate (apparently dying on the spot), as offstage we hear the
axes as they cut down the cherry orchard.
ANNE BOGART’S STATEMENT:
Small Lives /Big Dreams asks "why should we remember the past?" To me the theater is about memory,
about remembering the big questions pertaining to being human. A great play lasts because it asks us to
remember some important human issues. Is it true that if we are unable to remember our past, we have no
future? If we lose our memory, will we lose our humanity?
In approaching a play about memory, I chose to sample freely from the plays of Anton Chekhov. The
characters in Chekhov's plays are haunted by the past while attempting to look tentatively into their future.
At the end of the nineteenth century, Chekhov was experiencing premonitions about the great social changes
that lay ahead. Now at the end of the twentieth century, we sense the big changes ahead of us. In light of
these changes, what is the role of our memories? What do we do with our past?
THEATER REVIEW; Chekhov in Small Doses By 5 Actors, Set to Music
By BEN BRANTLEY, Published: February 7, 1995, Tuesday
For whatever reasons, the plays of Anton Chekhov are being taken apart and reassembled like Lincoln Log
houses in a kindergarten. Perhaps, as the director Anne Bogart suggests, it's because his characters, poised
with waning hope on the edge of a new century, strike responsive chords in artists with their own fin-desiecle blues.
Last summer saw the director Michael Greif exploding "The Sea Gull" in Williamstown, Mass. The Wooster
Group brought "Brace Up!," a fragmented, mixed-media take on "The Three Sisters," back to New York in
the fall from its world tour. "Samovar Fears," a "Sea Gull"-inspired evening of dialogue, music and dancing,
opened last weekend at the Tiny Mythic Theater Company. "Vanya on 42d Street" is still in movie theaters,
with at least two other film versions of "Uncle Vanya" in the offing.
And now, at P.S. 122, Ms. Bogart, who has never wanted for ambition, is taking on all five of Chekhov's
major plays in a theatrical collage called "Small Lives/Big Dreams." The work, which runs through Feb. 12,
arrives here from the Actors Theater in Louisville, where Ms. Bogart was the subject last month of a festival
devoted to her work.
The director's brand of theater appeals to a very particular taste, and her admirers will find her utterly true to
form here. Like her most recent New York productions, "Marathon Dancing" and "The Medium," "Small
Lives" is what might be described as a sort of anxious vaudeville. The world, as Ms. Bogart appears to see it,
is a bleak musical farce in which the score can change, or be brought to a halt, at any given moment.
The evening consists primarily of five performers (dressed in costumes that suggest a wedding of commedia
dell'arte and Russian imperialism) dancing, walking in procession and falling down to a medley of musical
forms while they recite lines from the Chekhov plays.
The selections tend to be about the vanishing past and the world to come. Some, out of context, seem
generic: "Like it or not, we'll have to go on living." Others, like Treplev's speech in "The Sea Gull" about the
decay of the theater and Mme. Ranevskaya's farewell to her cherry orchard, are easily recognized. The actors
deliver them in a variety of voices that precludes identifying them as single characters, against the sounds of
piano sonatas, electronic thunderstorms, music hall songs, a stuck record needle and howling wind.
This interpretation finds some amusing correspondences to Chekhov's plays, in which any attempts to make
music, if you'll remember, are usually interrupted. And it certainly brings out the texts' darkly farcical
elements, which the playwright insisted were too often overlooked.
But the approach is, finally, reductionist, turning all dialogue into a homogenized series of epitaphs for an
age. And though the sequence of music suggests some sort of cultural chronology, Ms. Bogart, working as
usual in a nonlinear manner, gives equal weight to all sequences. Which, by the way, nearly all seem to make
the same points.