OBU ‘Three Sisters’ production debuts April 25

By Olivianna Calmes, Assistant Arts Editor

The OBU theatre department finishes their 2019 season “Awakened by a Dream” with “Three Sisters,” written by Chekhov and translated by Laurence Senelick. Dr. David Coley has a Ph.D. in Theater and taught at St. Greg’s for 12 years in the theatre department and will be guest directing the show.

Coley said that this play is Chekhov’s greatest achievement.

“It represents the Russian dramatist at his most insightful, his most critical, and his most wryly comical,” he said. “His depiction of a society that teeters on the verge of change while fighting it with every step is a prescient vision that speaks volumes today.”

The story follows the sisters and their dream of moving back to the big city of Moscow. They encounter hard work, heartbreak and family crises. The play will explore how they learn from the struggles that they are presented with and how they deal with family issues.

When asked whether the play was humorous or comedic, Dr. David Coley said that he was torn.

“It’s difficult to say,” Coley said. “Most people when they watch or read Chekhov plays [see them as] very serious and dramatic and tragic sometimes, but he thought they were all comedies. He has a very dark, strange sense of humor. And so that’s something we are going to try to balance in the show.”

Coley said the play is going to be dramatic, and hopes it portrays the same strange levity that Checkhov saw.

“You know, whereas we might see some of these characters is very tragic,” Coley said. “He saw them as kind of ridiculous so we’re, we’re having to kind of try and find that that balance there.”

Coley said he has always been drawn to stories about people who are victims of history and culture that takes them down an unknown direction.

“[Three Sisters] is similar to that because it’s this family that try they might, can’t escape [and] the world is changing around them,” he said. “They can’t get outside that system that are going to be carried along with it like a river.”

The three sisters, Irina, Masha, and Olga will be played by freshman Theatre major Anna Smolen, senior Theatre major Anna Tyler, and sophomore Theatre and Digital Media Arts major Kimberlie McCutchen. Freshman communications major Noble Adams-Nabors is playing the role of Ferapont and anxiously anticipating the show.

“I’m really excited to see how the audience reacts to this play,” he said. “It’s not the typical kind of story and I’m interested to see what other people make of it.”

The showtimes are April 25 and 26 at 7:30 and April 28 at 2:30pm in the Sarkeys Black Box. To purchase tickets, visit okbu.edu/theatre, visit Sar-keys building box office Monday through Friday from 9 am to 4pm or call (405)-585-4350.