The rehearsals of A.P. Chekhov's Three Sisters have begun at Maladype Base in Budapest. Zoltán Balázs’s visionary direction will be presented on Saturday, 8 April, at 7 pm at Maladype Base in Mikszáth Kálmán Square.

The performance is honoring the memory of Judit Gombár set and costume designer.

After its well-received Platonov debuted in 2010, the theater workshop known for its innovative approach launches a new attack against theater traditions by adapting another Chekhov-play. As the latest addition to Maladype’s performances of playful experimentation with variability (Leonce and Lena, King Ubu, Platonov, Egg(s)hell, and Exercises in Style), Three Sisters also counts on the creative mind of the audience: by breaking down the dramatic text into images, Maladype’s actors perform the individual scenes through the various styles of Hungarian and foreign painters and artists.

Built on the metaphor of “painting as the journey of discovery,” the directorial concept provides a distinctive theater experience by painting a ‘picture-play’ in front of the audience and ‘drawing the phases’ of the characters’ mental processes. Stretched between tradition and modernity, the sensual story of the Prozorov siblings joins the dominant themes and concepts of the eras and styles of painting with rich meaning: the magical and omnipotent dreams, the melancholy and loneliness, the new portrayal and ideals of the human being, the body as medium, life as danse macabre, feeling and ecstasy, painting as a dramatic action, the gap between life and art, nature, light, movement, and technology.

The director's concept boldly plays with the picturesque transformations of the characters in time and space. With its refined and diverse visual world, the performance integrates a broad palette of emblematic artists from significant art periods (Botticelli, van Eyck, Bosch, Da Vinci, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Munkácsy, Lautrec, Renoir, Csontvary, van Gogh, Picasso, Dalí, Magritte, Vasarely, Warhol, Banksy) into the framework of Chekhovian composition.

Art-lovers and theater enthusiasts can equally enjoy the exploration of the specific dramaturgy of reverse metamorphosis ̶ from the casual through the abstract to concrete.

A.P. Chekhov: THREE SISTERS

Translation: Dezső Kosztolányi

Director: Zoltán Balázs

Performers:
Andrei Sergeyevich Prozorov: Zsigmond Bödők
Natalia Ivanovna, AndreI’s bride at the start, later his wife: Erika Tankó
Olga: Ágota Szilágyi
Masha: Kata Huszárik
Irina: Kamilla Fátyol
Fyodor Ilych Kulygin, Latin teacher at the high school, Masha's husband: Zoltán Lendváczky
Alexandr Ignatyevich Vershinin, Lieutenant colonel commanding the artillery battery: Zsolt Páll
Nikolaj Lvovich Tuzenbach, baron, lieutenant in the army: Zsigmond Bödők
Szolyony Vassyily Vasilyevich, captain: Zoltán Lendváczky
Ivan Romanich Chebutykin, army doctor – Zsolt Páll
Ferapont, door-keeper at the local council offices – Lóránd Bartha
Anfisa, elderly family retainer and former nurse – Lóránd Bartha

Creators:
Set Design: Zoltán Balázs
Scenery: Ágnes Czirják
Costum Design: Mari Benedek
Production manager: Katalin Balázs Katalin, Ildikó Éri

Opening night: 8 April 2017, 7 pm, Maladype Base