Drei Schwestern

Yes! »If one had only known!«

Worn down by uneventful country life, Olga, Masha and Irina, the daughters of a general, dream of a fulfilled, meaningful future and cling to the days long gone of their childhood in Moscow. The present remains unlived. Nothing moves on; it’s only time that passes, and with it the hope for a better life.

In the final decade of the GDR, Chekhov’s famous drama hit a nerve with the audience. Stagnation, small-mindedness, limitations – these were familiar to them, and they fostered their own, unreachable »to Moscow!«. Thus, Thomas Langhoff’s 1979 staging of Three Sisters at the Maxim Gorki Theatre, with Monika Lennartz, Ursula Werner and Swetlana Schönfeld in the title roles, became a true theatrical hit. 157 performances were filled with passionate suffering and grotesque longing.

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Gorki theatre, director Christian Weise and the ensemble use the recording of the production made in 1984 to trace the zeitgeist and attitudes toward life from that time.

»No, the yearning for life is not the theme of the play. The meaning of life, the meaning of suffering, that is what these poor sisters are seeking. They are industrious and clever, sensitive and honest and yet they understand nothing, nothing. Is that tragic? Yes. Is that comedic? Yes.« Thomas Langhoff
 

Watch the Trailer

Premiere on 1/October 2022

The Gorki is turning 70!
Premiere in our anniversary month October

Aufführungsrechte: Hartmann & Stauffacher Verlag, Köln

Photo: Esra Rotthoff
Stagephotos: Ute Langkafel MAIFOTO