Rashdash is a three-woman ensemble, and from 3rd-19thof May they played ‘Three Sisters’, after Chekhov, in the studio space at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. The phrase “after Chekhov” is crucial to the play, a modernised self-referential adaptation of Chekhov’s original intermingled with an abstract dramatisation of Rashdash’s thought process when debating dramatising the Canon. This is such a far postmodern stray from the lackluster realism of conventional theatre that, having asked in their flier for rating out of ‘a) 42’, ‘b) gf%’, ‘c) ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★’, or ‘d) other’, Rashdash would probably be dismayed to see me give them five stars. But the production deserves it, it’s brilliant.
The production (play? artwork? experience?) was anarchic, energetic, joyful. In fact, it was refreshingly disrespectful - disrespectful in the way modern artists probably should be to the revered Classics. A milder form of this phenomenon would be Emma Rice’s euphoric stint at the Globe Theatre. Emma Rice’s critics would have been struck dumb watching Rashdash’s ‘Three Sisters’. Good riddance. I know very little about Chekhov’s original, but I don’t doubt that here the eponymous sisters are given far more stage time than the author intended, and seeing into their world, refracted and distorted as it is by the modernisation, is a rich exploration of character. Rashdash played perfectly with the ambiguity with which female artists approach the mostly male canon and there was also an ambivalence in the actor-character relationship which allowed the knife edge of sincerity and irony to be teetered all the more precariously. At one point for example, a radical feminist grieving the end of an intense romantic relationship questions how her current lived experience interacts with her strongly-held abstract philosophies.
This deep character work was also portrayed by great abstract movement sequences which manage to turn seeking support into grappling for position and betrayal into offering support. These physical pieces are a key aspect of Rashdash’s work, and give the sense of more occurring below the surface of appearance in the more realistic scenes.
The production also benefitted from great live music which, besides just being a nice accompaniment, engaged with the central concerns. Again, it works with the ambivalence of irony and sincerity, ranging from the burlesque and tongue-in-cheek to the soulful and moving. However, there was always a sense that in some of the more soulful songs are presented tongue-in-cheek and some of the more tongue-in-cheek numbers carry a degree of sincerity.
The aesthetic in general was in tune with the ethos of show, it was intriguingly disturbing, decadent and deconstructed. It subscribed to the notion that ‘art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable’, and I certainly felt disturbed enough to recommend Rashdash to anyone.
Five stars
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