Three Russian Encounters:
The Yalta Game and Afterplay by Brian Friel, Swansong by Anton Chekhov
25-27 November and 1-4 December at 7.30 pm; matinée on 4 December at 2.30pm

 

What happens to fictional characters when the stories they are in come to an end? Might those from one play mix with those from another, resuming their lives through a different author? Themes of illusion and theatrical conceit abound in the Sewell Barn’s Three Russian Encounters, providing a novel combination of three one-act plays ‒ by Russia’s most famous playwright, Anton Chekhov, and the much-acclaimed modern Irish dramatist, Brian Friel.
Friel’s The Yalta Game is based on Chekhov’s short story The Lady with the Lapdog, in which a bored man and a lonely woman meet in the resort of Yalta and begin an affair that comes to dominate their lives. In Afterplay, Friel takes two characters from different Chekhov plays and has them meet years later in a Moscow café. Over tea, soup and vodka, they tell their stories and reveal the ‘fictions’ they have constructed in order to keep going. In the final play, Swansong, Chekhov presents an ageing actor reflecting on his life, his past triumphs and his doubtful future.
The Stage said of The Yalta Game: “A beautiful and melancholy piece of theatre, modern in its wit but wonderfully evocative of a lost time and place”. Of Afterplay, the Mail wrote: “As an autumnal, middle-aged idyll, the piece is a little gem… a short story in 3D – a total delight”, whilst the Guardian summarised Swansong as showing theatre to be “a house of dreams”.
Tony Fullwood, the director of this production commented “Theatre is, of course, the art form that best explores the idea that ‘all the world’s a stage’: that we are all actors creating and performing our roles. In each of these plays, two characters meet and share the illusions that they (and their authors) have created around themselves.”
All three plays demonstrate the particularly Chekhovian blend of comedy and tragedy, summarised by the original author’s stage direction ‘laughter through tears’. Our production aims both to amuse and to move.
The cast has an age-range of more than five decades, from the young woman of The Yalta Game played by Barn newcomer, Poppy Hiscox, to David White in Swansong, who has been acting for over 60 years. Paired with Poppy is Steven Scase, a regular performer in Norwich theatre. David is joined by Barn regular, Kevin Oelrichs. The couple in Afterplay are also both experienced actors, Dawn Brindle and Jen Alexander. Together they give audiences an engaging, thought-provoking and emotional evening.

 

Three Russian Encounters will be performed at the Sewell Barn Theatre, Constitution Hill, Norwich NR3 4BB from Thursday 25 November to Saturday 4 December 2021. Tickets are available online at £10 and £11 from TicketSource via www.sewellbarn.org, also by phone via 0333 6663366. We are pleased to say that booking fees are now included in the ticket prices.

Photo supplied by Sewell Barn Theatre