Iva Volánková
3sisters2002.cz (3sestry2002.cz)
7 men, 4 women, chorus
As the title indicates, the play takes place in the present day. In the center of the action, we find Olga, Masha and Irina, characters that the author has pointed out. Olga is a cynical, spiteful old maid with neurotic affectations, and haunted by erotic thoughts. Irina is even more cynical (in opposite to Chekhov´s character), playing sexual games in public with her monumental lover. We also find Masha in the crisis - she has just had an abortion and has resigned herself from everything. In addition, she is trying to resolve the issue of artificial insemination - it's unnaturalness simply disgusts her.
However, the sisters´ world is of course not only complicated by their internal problems, but also by external attacks: a fire brigade during their training exercises invades the sisters´ garden; a mysterious man with a hat leaves a suspicious box; and Václav Klaus „personally" telephones day-care worker Luisa (like a million other Czechs during his last election campaign). Masha´s husband cannot become director of his school because he was a collaborator with the Communist secret police. On the radio, we learn about a hostage-taking incident where „hundreds of hostages" are detained by Chechen terrorists, and poisoned by some unknown gas during an unsuccessful liberation attempt.
The only characters that seemingly do not allow themselves to be pulled from the world are Andrej (much younger than Chekhov´s character), who does not come out at all from his room where he to always be playing computer games, and the Father - a retired general who has decided not to communicate with anyone.
Everything is intertwined in the resulting apocalypse where everything is annihilated. It is not possible to live normally in today's world with today's information. The world is neither for men nor for women - and certainly not for children. The apocalypse of course occurs also on the television, while the characters sit in the garden and „roast hotdogs".
In 2002, the play received the prestigious award - 2nd Place in an anonymous competition for the best original theatre play (Alfréd Radok´s Award). The author´s acting profession inspired her to write: one year prior to writing the play, the author performed the role of Olga in the Ha Divadlo (HaTheatre) production of Chekhov´s Three Sisters in Brno.