‘Dead Russian guy’s’ words come to life in Theatre VCU production

The VCU Theatre department will premiere its production of Anton Chekov’s “Three Sisters” Thursday at the Hodges Theatre after five weeks of rehearsing what is known by many as one of the most difficult and rewarding dramas ever written.

The production has been directed by Julliard-trained actor Casey Biggs, who has had a long career in stage, film and TV acting as well as directing productions in Los Angeles and New York.

After meeting theater department chair David Leong through his involvement in fight choreographing, Biggs was asked to direct after teaching a master class at VCU last year.

“I gave them a list of shows and this is the one we decided to do,” Biggs said. “I think Chekov is a genius. Like Shakespeare, he teaches us how to be human beings in most of his plays. Chekov does as well, in terms of how he writes an emotional landscape. Most people said ‘Oh God, Chekov. All they do is stand around and talk.’ but it’s hilarious stuff…and heartbreaking and shocking.”

First performed in 1901, “Three Sisters” follows the lives of twenty-somethings Olga, Masha and Irina as they yearn to return from their bleak village to Moscow where they spent the idealized times of their childhood. The play has been regarded as a classic by most, but has gained a reputation as being somewhat intimidating for both actors and audiences.

Biggs’ primary motivation for choosing the play was to give the assembled cast exposure to what he feels is required material for theater majors.

“I don’t think people should get out of a program like this without having had contact with Chekov, or Shakespeare or the classics,” he said, “because you can’t really do contemporary stuff unless you know how to do this stuff.”

Megan Carboni, a senior theater major who plays middle sister Masha, agreed.

“I kind of took it for granted until we started working on it how difficult Chekov is,” she said. “The humanity of the characters is really honest and requires a lot of focus to get it right. It’s a tough project to work on.”

Biggs has been pleased with the actors’ ability to handle the material, crediting their desire to constantly improve and hone in on their delivery.

“I think that we have a terrific cast,” he said. “I auditioned everybody in the department and was really pleasantly surprised at how much talent there was here, because you can’t fake this stuff. You have to be good enough and brave enough to live it on the stage for the two and half hours that the show is there. Otherwise you’re wasting your time.”

Junior Piper Blouin, who plays youngest sister Irina, felt that Biggs’ experience as an actor helped them flesh out their individual characters.

“He definitely knew going into it exactly what he wanted,” Blouin said. “All throughout the process it’s been a really awesome experience conveying what the characters’ thoughts are.

“What really moves me is the commitment and the passion of the actors,” Biggs said. “They’re willing to go wherever I’d like them to go, and if we can’t get there we work on how to get there…when you direct a play there’s 15 people in a show you have to speak 15 different languages. You have to figure out what language that person speaks, metaphorically, and then hook into it because the bottom line is to get what you want.”

Biggs says his style of directing has matched Chekov’s work especially well.

“I think the strongest point is the writing,” he said. “It’s like a piece of music. That’s the way I direct. I usually direct in terms of thinking about music in terms of rhythm and movement. The poetry of the language is just breathtaking. I sit there and I’m astounded after working on it for weeks.”

Senior Angela Shipley, who appears as eldest sister Olga, also relied on a musical analogy to describe the work.

“It’s about more than watching people act the words of a dead Russian guy,” she said. “This piece is about mood, ambience and the musicality of human interaction. It’s like an orchestra with actors instead of musicians.”

For Blouin and the other sisters, the weighty subject matter proved difficult to bring out in her acting at first.

“The thing about Chekov is that there’s a lot of talking going on,” she said. “It was really a challenge trying to find the deeper emotions and subtext. I think that’s something that I took away from the process-that I can look at the script and know there’s more to it than just the text.”

“I found it even more challenging than Shakespeare because there’s so much subtext,” Shipley said. “Chekov is such a stylized writer and different from most of the western modern drama. It’s important for actors to work on a piece like this that has so many emotional layers. It’s hard work but it’s also an incredible learning experience.”

Despite the fact that Chekov’s work tends to seem unapproachable to many, Carboni believes VCU students will be able to connect with the play despite the gap in period and setting.

“It’s a classic for a reason,” she said. “We can relate to it today and its something you can laugh at and cry at. I’m definitely excited about opening night. The energy that the audience gives you is awesome. It’ll defeat the stigma that Chekov is boring and slow.”

Biggs, who will be leaving after opening night to shoot a TV pilot in L.A., believes the cast will be more than ready to unveil their work on Thursday.

“I’m really excited, and I think we will really achieve the play,” he said. “It won’t be an exercise. It will be as professional a production as can be done here that can stand up to any theater anywhere.”

Overall, the actor-turned-director who has spent his career running the gamut from stage to film to television feels that this production will show VCU students how relevant theater can still be.

“I’m always fascinated with an empty space with actors and words,” Biggs said. “I’m always fascinated with how a 21st century theater company tells a story, because we can’t compete with Spielberg. But there’s nothing more thrilling when you connect with a story being told in a live space like this. You can go see a movie (it) doesn’t matter whether you’re there or not. Here, the intercourse between an audience and the actors is a sublime thing, especially when it works.”

Most importantly, Biggs believes that the audience will connect with “Three Sisters,” with the amount of effort required to “achieve” it only adding to its importance.

“I think they will come in and they will leave changed,” he said. “That’s the reason to do theater.”