the play for this program, three sisters by anton chehkov. now, your host mr. jose ferrer. most children's stories begin with, "once upon a time" and end with a definite, "and they lived happily ever after." even most stories written for adults emphasize external action, plot, action, exciting visible incidents are what we have come to expect, a major character with a lot of appeal, cinderella rather than her step sisters. we expect to share the joys and disappointments of the hero, triumphant in the end. but heroes and villains are out of place in more scientific observation. this ability to observe in an impartial way is characteristic of an important russian playwright of the 19th century,

anton chehkov, a physician who wrote short stories and plays, which depicted people as neither heroic nor foolish. indeed, chehkov's plays seemed plotless to viewers expecting a conventional, single action. instead, emphasis is on people and atmosphere in many small stories. in his plays as in real life, there's not necessarily one outstanding moment of supreme significance, nothing compared, for instance, to the moment when the traditional hero learns some overwhelming truth about the universe. some of chehkov's people achieve understanding, others remain trapped in self delusion. there are important events, but they take place offstage. there are extramarital affairs, a fatal duel, a devastating fire. the sensational is avoided in favor of personal reflection. people rarely confront each other or respond directly.

in chehkov, the people and their individual reactions to life are most important as in the three sisters, which represents a break with the more artificial plays of the time. chehkov gave special meaning to theater reality. theater can be compared to painting, a very realistic drama like a representational painting can be understood externally. it depends primarily on action and people speak directly without hidden meanings. chehkov is more like an impressionistic painting in which we can recognize details but they are seen through a mist with the suggestion that there is definitely more than meets the eye. this method, known as the flow of life, had profound impact on 20th century playwrights including tennessee williams. later, some plays became even more abstract. this progression can be seen as we compare three tables

at which people are gathered. in the wild duck, the table and food are real. people reveal themselves by what they say directly to each other, speaking realistic prose dialogue. you may notice that the character cares a lot about what he eats and we are encouraged to see him revealed as thoughtless, greedy, pretentious and so on. in chehkov, people sit down to eat, but the table is a means of introducing the army officers who have just arrived, of showing the distinctly different characters of the family and friends in a way which concentrates much more than ibsen does on the inner feelings of each character. paralleling surrealist painting in the ghost sonata, the departure from realism has continued to the point that though there is talk of the eating, entertaining guests,

no food actually appears and even the guests themselves have been reduced to abstractions. before viewing the first scene from chehkov's play, you must be introduced to the characters whose personalities overshadow the plot. the setting is the provincial home of the three sisters and their brother. olga, a school teacher usually in charge of running the house, she is unmarried. masha, probably the most worldly of the three, she seems tired, bored, uninterested in the childish enthusiasms of her husband kulygin. and the youngest sister, irina, whose saint's day is being celebrated. all three sisters have expressed the desire to return to moscow where they had once lived. life in a small town is dull compared to the excitement they remember from their youth in a large city where their father was an army officer.

their brother, andrei, is scholarly, naive, romantically interested in a village girl from the lower class. she is natalya, who is nervous about the impression she will make, worried about having worn the wrong clothes. i'm not used to being... other visitors include a doctor, an old friend of the family, an army colonel visiting the house for the first time, and two men trying to attract the youngest sister irina. they are the baron tuzenbach and another officer solyony. in this play, from time to time one character or another will make an announcement about himself and his beliefs or desires. we should not be surprised if the people nearby are not really listening. as you watch these characters in a scene revealing chehkov's unique style, suspend judgment about them

until they reveal more about themselves. only an open-minded audience can give them this chance. for example, this is one of the sisters, masha, sitting near the table during the celebration of her younger sister irina's saint's day. ...boring meetings of the directors. i wouldn't go if i were you and that's that. don't you go my dear. don't go indeed, ha-ha, what a damnable life. it's intolerable. oh well... the response of someone with a closed mind would be to make a quick judgment about masha. if she's bored, why doesn't she do something about it? if she's bored, why does she think she has to tell others about how she feels and spoil the celebration? or perhaps how strange these russians are, always talking about glooms they feel. those who suspend judgment about masha and take a close look at her husband kulygin, a school teacher, may begin to understand. loves me, my wife loves me. you must remember to put away the curtains

with the carpets too. you know, i am very cheerful today. i mean, i'm in unusually good spirits. masha, the director has invited us around to his house at 4 o'clock this afternoon. a country walk has been arranged for... masha's irritation with him becomes more understandable when we listen to his little jokes and enthusiasms, and still more so when we reflect that a woman of her age and class was not educated to make an independent career or to consider divorce. but is kulygin then a villain? not at all. he probably would have been happier married to someone else, perhaps to olga, who admires his knowledge. from time to time, one character or another behaves in a manner unusual in a more realistic drama. another makes little proclamations or strange sounds, reciting poetry, addressing remarks to no one in particular. some are profound

while others seem not to have much insight at all. how is the audience to know what these people actually feel? begin by listening. oh well, never mind. yes, we must work. i suppose you're thinking i'm a sentimental german but i assure you i'm not, i'm russian. i don't speak a word of german. my father was brought up in the greek orthodox faith. you know, i often wonder what it would be like if you could start your life over again, deliberately, i mean, consciously. i mean, suppose you could put aside the part of your life that you've lived already as though it was some sort of a rough draft and then start another one that could be a copy. now i think if that happened, the thing that you would want most of all would be not to repeat yourself. you try at least to create a new environment for yourself, a house like this for instance with some flowers and plenty of light.

i have a wife, you know, and two little girls and my wife's not very well and all that. well, if i had to start my life all over again i wouldn't marry, no, no. ah, congratulations dear sister, from the bottom of my heart, congratulations on your saint's day. i wish you good health and everything a girl of your age ought to have and allow me to present you with this little book. it's a history of our school covering the whole 50 years of its existence. i wrote it myself. of course, quite a trifle really. i wrote it in my spare time when i had nothing better to do but i hope you'll read it, nevertheless. good morning to you all. oh, allow me to introduce myself, kulygin is the name, i'm a master at the secondary school here and a town counselor. there's a list in the book of all the students who have completed their studies during the last 50 years [speaking latin] my dear. but you gave me this book for easter.

did i really? oh, in that case, give it to me back, oh no better, give it to the colonel. no. please, please, do take it colonel. perhaps you'll read it when you've nothing better to do. thank you very much. so very glad to have made your acquaintance. oh but you aren't going, are you? really, you mustn't. but you'll stay and have lunch with us. - please do. - please do. i see i'm intruding on your saint's day party, i didn't know. please forgive me for not offering you my congratulations. today is sunday my friends, a day of rest. let each of us rest and enjoy it each according to his age and his position in life. we must remember to put away the carpets until winter. we must remember to put some naphthalene or persian powder in them. now the romans, they enjoyed good health because they knew how to work and how to rest. they had-- their life had a definite, a form.

you know the director of the school says that the most important thing about life is form? the thing that loses its form, finished. and that is just as true in our ordinary everyday lives. ah, masha loves me, my wife loves me. you must remember to put away the curtains with the carpets too. you know, i am very cheerful today. i'm in unusually good spirits. masha, the director has invited us around to his house at 4 o'clock this afternoon. a country walk has been arranged for the teachers and their families. i'm not coming. but masha, darling, why not? i'll tell you later. but-- oh, alright, i'll come, i mean, leave me alone now. and after the walk we shall spend the evening at the director's house. you know, in spite of weak health that man is certainly sparing no pains to be sociable, oh, a first rate, thoroughly intelligent man and most excellent person. you know, after the conference yesterday he said to me, --ilyich, he said. i'm tired.

i'm tired. your clock's 10 minutes fast. i'm tired, he said, and-- will you all come sit down please, lunch is ready. there's a pie. oh, olga my dear girl, last night i worked until 11 o'clock and i felt tired but today i am so happy, happy, happy, dear olga. a pie? excellent. remember, you mustn't take anything to drink today, do you hear, it's bad for you. oh, never mind, i got over that little weakness long ago. oh, i haven't done any serious drinking for two years now. well, anyway my dear, what's it matter? all the same, don't you dare to drink anything. i mind you don't now. so now, i've got to spend another of those damnable boring evenings at the director's. i wouldn't go if i were you and that's that. don't you go my dear. don't go indeed, huh, huh. what a damnable life. it's intolerable. oh well.

[screaming] oh do stop it solyony, i've really had enough of it. what? well, your health colonel? yeah, i think i'll have some of this dark vodka. what else? i do feel so very happy being here with you people. i'm afraid masha's a bit out of humor today. mm-hmm. she got married when she was 18, you know. and then her husband seemed the cleverest man in the world to her. it's different now. he's the kindest of men, not the cleverest. andrei, will you please come? we're just coming. what are you thinking about? nothing special.

you know, i'm quite afraid of solyoni. no really, i'm quite afraid of him. every time he opens his mouth he says something silly. he's a strange fellow. i feel sorry for him even though he irritates me. in fact, i feel more sorry for him than irritated. i think he's shy. when he's alone with me he can be quite sensible and friendly but in company he's offensive and bullying. don't go over there just yet. let them get settled down at the table. let me stay beside you for a bit. tell me what you're thinking about? you're 20, and i'm not 30 yet myself, what years and years we still have ahead of us, a whole long succession of years, all full of my love for you. please don't talk to me of love nikolai lvovich. oh, i long so passionately for life. i long to work and strive so much and all this longing is somehow mingled with my love for you irina and just because you happen to be beautiful

life appears beautiful to me. what are you thinking about? well, you say that life is beautiful, maybe it is. but what if it only seems to be beautiful. well, our lives, i mean, the lives of us three sisters haven't been beautiful up until now, life has been stifling us like weeds in a garden. irina. i'm afraid i'm crying. so unnecessary. we must work, work. the reason we feel depressed and take such a gloomy view of life is that we've never known what it is to make a real effort. we're the children of parents who despised work. they've gone into lunch already, i'm late. hair seems to be all right. my dear irina sergeyevna, congratulations. you've got such a lot of visitors.

i feel quite shy. oh... how do you do baron? ah, there you are natalia ivavovna, how are you my dear? congratulations. you've got such a lot of visitors. i feel dreadfully shy. oh, they're all old friends. excuse me. you've got a green belt. my dear, that's surely a mistake. why, is it a bad omen or something? no, but it just doesn't go with your dress. it looks so strange. really? well, it isn't really green, you know, it's sort of a dull color. irina, you know, you really ought to find yourself a good husband. and may be just high time you got married. yes, i think it's time you found yourself a nice little husband too natalia ivanovna. natalia ivanovna already has a husband in you. a glass of wine for me please,

three cheers for our jolly old life, we keep our end up, we do. masha, you won't get more than 5 out of 10 for good conduct. ah, this is delicious, what is it made of? black beetles... we're having roast turkey tonight and then apple tart. thank goodness i'll be here all day today, this evening too. you must all come this evening. oh please, may i come this evening too? yes please, do. okay, don't stand on ceremony here. ♪ nature created us for no one... ♪ would you stop it please, aren't you tired of it yet? oh look here, they're having lunch already. having their lunch. and so they are having lunch already. well, just wait half a minute, one, two, three, just half a minute more. one, two, three...

congratulations irina sergeyevna. i wish you all the best, everything you've wished for your self. you look most charming today. by the way, look at this top, it's got a wonderful hum. what a sweet little thing? a green oak grows by curving shore, and round that oak hangs a golden chain, a green chain around that oak. why do i keep on saying that? these lines have been worrying me all day long. do you know we're 13 at table? oh, you don't really believe in these old superstitions, do you? when 13 people sit down to table it means that some of them are in love. --romanovich? oh, i'm just an old sinner. what i can't make out is why natalia ivanovna seems so embarrassed.

just wait a minute, please? i feel so ashamed. they are all laughing at me and i don't know what's the matter. i know it's bad manners of me to leave the table like that but i couldn't help it, i just couldn't. my dear girl, please, please don't get upset. honestly, they don't mean any harm, they're just teasing. my dear sweet girl, they're really good natured folks. they all are and they're fond of us both. let's go over there where they can't see us. you see, i'm not used to being with a lot of people. my young, young natasha, how wonderfully beautifully young. oh my dear sweet girl, don't get so upset. well, do believe me, believe me, i'm so happy, so full of love, of joy. you know, they can't see us here. they can't see us. how did i come to love you? when was it? i don't understand anything. you're my precious, my sweet, my innocent girl,

please, i want you to marry me. i love you. i love you as i've never loved anybody. it is now three years later. natasha, married to andrei, is the mother of two children and is now very much in charge of running the house. she has forced the two unmarried sisters to share a room and is preparing to get rid of the nanny who has worked for the family for so many years. irina is working at a routine job. masha and colonel vershinin had been having an affair. the family has less money than ever before and they are no closer to their dream of returning to moscow. apparently, the whole of the kazanofski's street's been burned down. now, take this and this too, the poor vershinin's had a fright, their house only just escaped being burnt down. we mustn't let them go home.

they'll have to spend the night here. poor fedotik's lost everything. he's got nothing left. i'd better call ferapont. i just can't carry all this. no one pays any attention when i ring. is there anyone there? will someone come up please? how dreadful it all is and how tired of it i am. ah, take these downstairs please. the kolotilin girls are sitting under the stairs. give it to them and this too. very good madam. moscow was burned down in 1812 just the same as... yes, the french were surprised, all right.

oh, go along. now take those down. very good madam. give it all away nanny dear, we won't keep anything. give it all away. i'm so tired, i can hardly keep on my feet. we mustn't let the vershinins go home. the little girls can sleep in the drawing room and aleksandr ignatyevich can share the downstairs room with the baron. fedotik can go in with the baron too. maybe he should go into the ballroom. the doctor's gone and got drunk. you'd think he'd done it on purpose? he's so hopelessly drunk that we can't let anyone go into his room. vershinin's wife will have to go into the drawing room too. don't send me away olyaska darling, don't send me away. what nonsense you're talking nanny. no one's sending you away. oh, my dearest girl, i do work, you know. i work as hard as i can.

i suppose now i'm getting weaker i'll be told to go. but where can i go? where? i'm 80 years old, i'm over 81. you sit down for a while nanny. you're tired, you poor thing. now just rest a bit. you've turned quite pale. they're saying we ought to start a subscription in aid of the victims of the fire or, you know, form a society or something for the purpose. well, why not? it's an excellent idea. in any case it's up to us to help the poor as best we can. bobik and sofochka are fast asleep as though nothing had happened. we've got such a crowd of people in the house. there are people whichever way you turn. there's flu about in the town, i'm so afraid the children might catch it.

you can't see the fire from this room. it's quiet in here. yes, i suppose my hair must be in a mess. they say i've grown fatter. but it's not true. i'm not a bit fatter. masha's asleep. she's tired poor dear. how dare you sit down in my presence, get up. get out of here. i can't understand why you keep that old woman in this house. forgive me for saying so but... she's quite useless, she's just a peasant. her right place is in the country. i do like order in the home. i don't like having useless people about. you're tired poor dear, our head mistress is tired. when my sofochka grows up and goes to school i'll be frightened of you.

i'm not going to be a head mistress. oh, you'll be asked, olyachka, it's as good as settled. i'll refuse. i couldn't do it. i wouldn't be strong enough. you spoke so harshly to nanny just now. you must forgive me for saying so but i just can't bear that sort of thing. it made me feel quite faint. forgive me dear, forgive me, i didn't mean to upset you. please, try to understand me dear. it may be that we've been brought up in a peculiar way but anyhow, i just can't bear it. when people are treated like that it gets me down. i feel quite ill. i simply become unnerved. forgive me dear, forgive me. any cruel or tactless remark, even the slightest discourtesy upsets me.

it's quite true. i know i often do say things which will be better left unsaid, but you must agree with me dear, she'll be better off in the country somewhere. she's been with us for 30 years. but she can't work anymore, can she? well, either i don't understand you or you don't want to understand me. she can't work. she just sleeps or sits about. well, let her sit about. what do you mean let her sit about, she's a servant. well, i don't understand you olya. i have a nurse for the children and a wet nurse. we share a cook and a maid, whatever do we want this old woman for? what for? i have aged 10 years tonight. we must sort this out olya. you're working at school, i'm working at home. you're teaching. i'm running the house and when i say anything about the servants i know what i'm talking about and that old thief, that old witch must get out of this house tomorrow.

how dare you vex me so, how dare you. really, if you don't move downstairs we shall always be quarreling. this is quite dreadful. where's masha? well, it's time we went home. they say the fire's getting less spirit. you know, only one block got burned down. to begin with, it looked as if the whole town was going to be set on fire with that wind. i'm so tired. oh, olyachka my dear, you know, i haven't often thought that if i hadn't married masha i'd have married you. you're so kind. oh, i'm absolutely worn out. what is it? the doctor's got drunk as if he'd done it on purpose, hopelessly drunk as if he'd done it on purpose. you know, i think he's coming up here. can you hear? yes, he is, he's coming up here. oh what a fellow really. i'm going to hide. what a scoundrel. he's been off drinking for two years

and now suddenly he goes and gets drunk? now to hell with them. to hell with the lot of them. they think i can treat it just because i'm a doctor. as a matter of fact i don't know anything. i've forgotten everything i ever knew. i can't remember a thing for the life of me. oh, the devil take them.

wednesday of last week i attended a woman at zasyp. she died. it's my fault that she did die. yes, i used to know a thing or two 25 years ago but now i can't remember anything, absolutely nothing. perhaps i'm not a man at all. perhaps i just imagined that. i've got hands, arms and a head. perhaps i don't exist at all. perhaps i just imagine i'm walking about, eating, sleeping.

[crying] if i could only stop existing. damn, god knows. just the other day in the club they were-- they were talking about shakespeare and voltaire. i've never read either. i've never read a single line of either. i try to make out from my expression that i had... the others did the same. also petty and despicable.