The Chekhov is a deconstructed reimagining of Anton Chekhov’s 1901 play Three Sisters to connect to the present bewilderment, ecological and humanitarian crises, and the profound sense of disillusionment and existential despair.

Three Sisters by Chekhov is about three sisters who, having lost both parents, struggle to find meaning in a small provincial town and throughout the play persistently long to return home to Moscow. In The Chekhov, three performers wait through an endlessly changing series of scenarios that move constantly between comedy and tragedy. Olga, the Acting Head of Department at the Art Academy needs to apply for her job, meanwhile deal with a hostage situation at school, meanwhile write a speech about the future of education. Masha, married to an idiot and always in a bad mood, begins an affair with the most boring man in the world: a visiting architect from Brussels. Irina, an idealistic activist wants to be useful, meanwhile gets a job as an administrator at the local council. Meanwhile there’s a fire in the town, a dinner table needs to be set, and true to Chekhov’s original conceit, someone needs to act. Meanwhile, Nicola reflects on the first time she saw Three Sisters as a 20-year-old, the enduring legacy of Anton Chekhov, and how she currently lives in a small town but is actually from a very big city.

The Chekhov recomposes the themes and narrative structure of Three Sisters – namely: the future of work, the future of education, the socio-political dialectics of the centre versus the periphery / capital city versus the provinces, and the search for meaning – in a new work that combines text, choreography, punk music and pyrotechnics.

Concept, Text and Direction NICOLA GUNN
Choreography and Performance NICOLA GUNN, IDA WIGDEL and CAROLINE ECKLY
Sound Design and Composition ÅDNE MEISFJORD
Pyrotechnics EMILY PARSONS-LORD
Light Design SILJE GRIMSTAD
Costume Design SOFIA SOTOLONGO
Production Assistant YLVA LARSSON

CO-PRODUCED by FESTSPILLENE I BERGEN, BIT, ROSENDAL TEATER and CARTE BLANCHE.
FUNDED by NORSK KULTURRÅDET, FOND FOR LYD OG BILDE, CREATIVE AUSTRALIA, BERGEN KOMMUNE and FFUK.
RESIDENCIES supported by BERGEN DANSESENTER, THEATRE SILVIA MONFORT, BUDA KUNSTSENTRUM and BERGEN KUNSTHALL LIVE STUDIO.