By Susannah Whitman
Whether you’re a scholar of Chekhov or a lover of sitcoms, there’s something wonderful about Riot Act’s Mopey Wrecks, currently playing at the Ember in Salt Lake City. An adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters, Whit Hertford’s imaginative new script captures all of the tragedy, comedy, and philosophy of a play originally written over 100 years ago.
You may have to walk a little to get to the venue—parking is limited, but you shouldn’t have trouble finding a spot on the street nearby. Ember SLC is often used for parties and events, and its exposed brick, polished concrete, and wooden beams provide the perfect rustic atmosphere to tell the story of the three Prozorov sisters. The set is filled with old couches, practical lamps, an old rug or two, and one thing is certain: this is a place stuck hopelessly in the past.
For readers unfamiliar with Three Sisters, the play tells the story of the Prozorov family (the sisters Olga, Masha, and Irina, and their brother Andre) as they deal with the death of their father one year earlier. The family grew up in Moscow, but moved out to the country 11 years ago. Now without any parents, the adult Prozorov siblings struggle to find meaning in their current lives, clinging to the good old days when their father was alive. They drag their feet through their lives, certain that happiness could be found if only they could return to Moscow.
Hertford’s new script—the full title of which is Mopey Wrecks (A Performative Analysis of Sibling Interdependency and the Increasing Unlikelihood of Returning to Moscow)—sets the play in modern day upstate New York. The late Prozorov patriarch was a rock star, and the family home a stopping point for artists and musicians throughout his life. It still is, but the visits from other musicians feel a little pointless now that the great man has passed. Through philosophical discussions, music, dinner parties, and fights, we watch the family’s lives crumble.
The cast is made up of a talented ensemble of actors; every one of them is honest in their performance. Ellesse Hargreaves plays Olga, the eldest sister, a school teacher “spinster” who has chosen to embrace the “sweatpants age” she’s decided she’s in. Hargreaves allows us to see how hard Olga is trying, so that when she does break, it feels justified. Nicki Nixon plays the middle sister, Masha, a “failed poet” who married her therapist at age 20. Nixon’s portrayal of Masha is devastatingly sexy, shot through with anger and a despair so deep it keeps her jaw permanently clenched. As the youngest sister Irena, McKenzie Steele Foster is perfectly youthful, with an innocence and hope that slowly fades throughout the show. Foster brings a bright-eyed optimism to the role, but her growing sadness as the play progresses is equally believable.
Aaron Kramer plays the Prozorov brother Andre, whose dreams of becoming a professor fall short. Kramer is somehow dear as he tries (and tries and tries and tries) to just get through it all, but we get the sense that he’s now too tired to be angry. Brighton Hertford plays the role of Natasha, Andre’s love interest (and later wife), with incredible skill. The actress stepped into the role a mere two days before opening night, but you wouldn’t know it to watch her. The character of Natasha is filled with a self-hate that causes her to try a little too hard at first. Her heartbreaking pathos makes her horrifying behavior later in the play all the more painful. You find yourself not hating her, but feeling sorry for her.
The loveable “Doc” Chubutykin is played by Darryl Stamp, whose affection for the Prozorov sisters seems genuine, despite his drunken ramblings. “Playing drunk” is a trap for many actors onstage, but Stamp didn’t fall into it, and his performance was moving and fitting. Jesse Ryan plays the musician Alex Vershinin, and he brings a deep charisma and likeability to the role. In many ways, Vershinin represents hope of what could be to the Prozorovs, though he’s mired in his own sorrows. It’s easy to see how Ryan’s genuine smile and kindness bring light to the Prozorov house.
As the pedantic therapist (and Masha’s husband) Fred Kulygin, Roger Dunbar is wonderful. His awkwardness is endearing precisely because he doesn’t know he’s awkward. What you see is what you get. His performance is humorous and sympathetic. Andy Rindlisbach plays Baron Tuzenbach, another young musician, with a steady sort of optimism that breaks your heart. Either he’s intellectually passionate, or passionately intellectual, but either way, it’s perfect.
Anne Decker plays the elderly Anfisa, the vision of what everyone is on their way to becoming. Her performance is humorous and charming, and her honest humor gives the show a sense of balance. The cast is rounded out by Director and Playwright Whit Hertford playing the awkward, hilarious, and threatening Solyony. Solyony is the guy at the party who says things that there is no good response to, and Hertford played this unpredictability to perfection. While Solyony is alternately dangerous and nonsensical, there are also moments when he serves as a sort of unexpected Tiresius, speaking truth that the other characters aren’t willing to see.
The tragedy of this story is that everyone is simply too hurt to be able to see one another. From the outside, we can see the ways they’re stuck, see the ways they’re making a mess. But we can also see how impossible it would all feel if you yourself were in it. At one point, one of the characters observes, “It’s funny how little things can seem so big.” And it’s true. Within the world of the play, the smallest things—the ticking metronome during intermission, the tissue Masha carries, the record player—each take on so much weight.
Mopey Wrecks also does give a good “performative analysis of sibling interdependency.” Relationships between family members are often complicated—love layered on hate layered on love. This is especially clear in one scene between the three sisters in Act Two, one of the few times in the show when it’s just them. Their words to one another are venom one moment, and they are holding one another the next.
In this re-imagined Three Sisters, Hertford’s expertise and passion for Chekhov is evident. There are times when Chekhov almost veers into absurdism, and Hertford’s script embraces the paralysis of the Prozorov sisters with the same humor that Beckett embraces the paralysis of Gogo and Didi, waiting for Godot to arrive. It’s easy to forget that Chekhov is funny. The humor in Act One makes us love the characters, and the paralysis of Act Two makes us ache for them.
As I left the theatre after the show, three thoughts occurred to me. The first was that I wasn’t doing with my life quite exactly what I wanted to be. I suddenly didn’t want to become a Prozorov sister myself, stuck, and convinced that happiness was elsewhere. I’m mostly satisfied with my life, but Riot Act’s play made me aware of the things I want to change. The second thought I had was “I’ve been laughing all night, so why do I feel so sad?” Which is a feeling that I imagine readers of Chekhov will recognize. (Which also means that Hertford’s adaptation was very effective.) But ultimately, my last thought was an echo of one of Masha’s lines. “Keep living, okay?”
There are things about Mopey Wrecks that hurt deeply. But I think that ultimately, it carries invigorating messages of hope. It reminds us to not let ourselves get stuck. It reminds us that a lot of this doesn’t even really matter. And it reminds us that in the face of our own tragedies, our own paralysis, our own desperate search for meaning, to “keep living, okay?”
Riot Act presents Mopey Wrecks (A Performative Analysis of Sibling Interdependency and the Increasing Unlikelyhood of Returning to Moscow) by Whit Hertford
Ember SLC, 623 South State Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
August 29-31, September 3-6, 2018 7:30 PM
Tickets: $17-19
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Mopey Wrecks Facebook Event
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