Surya Anthony reviews this intriguing Chekhov adaptation performed last week in Kings Cross
I recently saw Not Quite Three Sisters, an adaptation of Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, at Platform Theatre in Kings Cross. This one-hour production by Central Saint Martins MA students reworks the original into something more contained and intimate. It centres the three sisters almost entirely, cutting much of the surrounding material and reframing the play through a multilingual, performance-led approach.
The core story remains: three sisters stuck in a provincial town, speaking constantly about leaving for Moscow and building a better life, but never quite moving. Each sister speaks a different language; Olga in Turkish, Masha in French, Irina in Chinese, while the male characters are played by one actor in Italian. There are small moments of English, but not enough to rely on. I had already read the play, which meant I didn’t need to follow the subtitles closely, and that made all the difference. I could focus on how things were being communicated rather than what was being said.
After the performance, I spoke to Mia, one of the directors (who worked on Olga), and the origin of the concept is almost accidental. They turned up to early rehearsals with scripts in different languages, and instead of standardising it, they built the production around that odd happenstance.
The piece also has a clear female gaze. With three directors, each focused on one sister, the production naturally prioritises their perspectives and emotional worlds over everything else.
In terms of performance, all three actresses carry the piece in distinct ways. Masha opens the play on her name day, dressed in something akin to a wedding dress. It sets up her energy immediately: playful, slightly performative, like a girl trying on womanhood without fully understanding it. Irina feels more edgy and direct, especially in her moments addressing the audience and in the musical sections. There’s a sense of hope in her, but also something more hauntingly fragile underneath. Olga is the most contained of the three, steady and restrained, trying to hold it together for all three sisters. It’s their performances that do most of the heavy lifting. Even though I couldn’t understand the language, I understood the intention, the relationships, and the emotional shifts and rifts between them.
The production itself is minimal but effective. There’s live piano and singing woven through, which adds to the atmosphere without becoming distracting. The set is simple and functional, giving space for movement. The addition of subtitles was a nice touch. Costumes help define character clearly; Olga structured, Masha more expressive, Irina edgier and raw.
Overall, this is a focused, quietly confident piece of theatre. The concept could easily have been the main event, but it’s the performances that ground it. The three actresses carry the emotional weight with enough gravitas that the language barrier starts to feel irrelevant, which, I imagine was the intention. If so, they’ve absolutely nailed it.
