The Three Sisters

Written by Anton Chekhov

Narrated by LibriVox Community

Three Sisters is a naturalistic play about the decay of the privileged class in Russia and the search for meaning in the modern world. It describes the lives and aspirations of the Prozorov family, the three sisters (Olga, Masha, and Irina) and their brother Andrei. They are a family dissatisfied and frustrated with their present existence. The sisters are refined and cultured young women who grew up in urban Moscow; however for the past eleven years they have been living in a small provincial town. Moscow is a major symbolic element: the sisters are always dreaming of it and constantly express their desire to return. They identify Moscow with their happiness, and thus to them it represents the perfect life. However as the play develops Moscow never materializes and they all see their dreams recede further and further. Meaning never presents itself and they are forced to seek it out for themselves. (Summary by wikipedia)

The Three Sisters Cast:
ANDREY SERGEYEVITCH PROSOROV - Joe Spy
NATALIA IVANOVA (NATASHA), his fiancée, later his wife - Availle
OLGA - Elizabeth Klett
MASHA - Arielle Lipshaw
IRINA - Elizabeth Barr
FEODOR ILITCH KULIGIN, high school teacher, married to MASHA - mb
ALEXANDER IGNATEYEVITCH VERSHININ, lieutenant-colonel in charge of a battery - Bruce Pirie
NICOLAI LVOVITCH TUZENBACH, baron, lieutenant in the army - John Fricker
VASSILI VASSILEVITCH SOLENI, captain - Denny Sayers
IVAN ROMANOVITCH CHEBUTIKIN, army doctor - Algy Pug
ALEXEY PETROVITCH FEDOTIK, sub-lieutenant - Raken
VLADIMIR CARLOVITCH RODE, sub-lieutenant - Elizabeth Klett
FERAPONT, door-keeper at local council offices, an old man - David Lawrence
ANFISA, nurse - Ana
Narrator/Stage Directions - Mary Herndon Bell

Audio edited by Arielle Lipshaw

• Language: English
• Publisher: LibriVox
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014

Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian doctor, short-story writer, and playwright. Born in the port city of Taganrog, Chekhov was the third child of Pavel, a grocer and devout Christian, and Yevgeniya, a natural storyteller. His father, a violent and arrogant man, abused his wife and children and would serve as the inspiration for many of the writer’s most tyrannical and hypocritical characters. Chekhov studied at the Greek School in Taganrog, where he learned Ancient Greek. In 1876, his father’s debts forced the family to relocate to Moscow, where they lived in poverty while Anton remained in Taganrog to settle their finances and finish his studies. During this time, he worked odd jobs while reading extensively and composing his first written works. He joined his family in Moscow in 1879, pursuing a medical degree while writing short stories for entertainment and to support his parents and siblings. In 1876, after finishing his degree and contracting tuberculosis, he began writing for St. Petersburg’s Novoye Vremya, a popular paper which helped him to launch his literary career and gain financial independence. A friend and colleague of Leo Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky, and Ivan Bunin, Chekhov is remembered today for his skillful observations of everyday Russian life, his deeply psychological character studies, and his mastery of language and the rhythms of conversation.