Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Halley Feiffer’s MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW irreverently updates Chekhov’s “Three Sisters”

• By drediman
• August 1, 2019
• No Comments

Matthew Jeffers, Rebecca Henderson, Tavi Gevinson, and Chris Perfetti in Halley Feiffer’s “Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow”, courtesy of MCC Theater. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to catch up with Halley Feiffer’s latest play Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow at Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater. Updating Chekhov plays has been in vogue for a number of years now. Although no stranger to the stage, Cate Blanchett made her long-awaited Broadway debut in 2017 in The Present, Andrew Upton’s modern adaptation of Chekhov’s first play Platonov. Then there’s Aaron Posner, who incisively updated The Seagull and Uncle Vanya in his sensational pair, Stupid Fucking Bird and Life Sucks (an excellent production of which is currently running Off-Broadway). Now we have Ms. Feiffer’s updating of, if you didn’t gather already, Three Sisters. If you’re unfamiliar with the play, it tells the story of the three bored sisters in the Russian countryside who dream of one day escaping to Moscow.

I guess unlike with classic English or American plays, the temptation to take a radical stance on plays written in a foreign language is more acute. I mean – unless the decision is made to use a preexisting English edition – one must translate them anyway, right? The beauty of a drastically new adaptation is that it adds an element of suspense to plays you thought you knew – e.g., do these women actually make it to Moscow? I would say Ms. Halley’s irreverent updating is most closely aligned with Mr. Posner’s adaptations in that she opts for riotous, farcical comedy to highlight the pain and emptiness in the characters’ lives. I just wish she exhibited just a bit more universal pathos rather than insisting on hammering home these sisters’ uniquely millennial attitude and angst. Despite the lack of genuine heartbreak, it’s nonetheless all quite amusing to watch.

MCC Theater’s production has been briskly directed by Trip Cullman – Ms. Feiffer’s frequent collaborator – who has steadily risen to become one of the more sought-after directors in New York. His snappy, brash work on Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow exhibits a freewheeling quality and a refreshing break from his typically studied, stylish stagings. The cast all-around is pretty wonderful, led by Rebecca Henderson, Tavi Gevinson, and Chris Perfetti (in a bit of inspired gender-blind casting) as the titular three sisters. They and the rest of the cast puts a heightened, energetic spin on their characters’ respective plights, hilariously pointing out their flaws, as well as Sartre’s notion that hell is other people.

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MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW
Off-Broadway, Play
MCC Theater
1 hour, 35 minutes (without an intermission)
Through August 17