THEATER
Sisters in Moscow, Medea in Queens
Deconstruction, reimaginings, homages that work
BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE
“Moscow Moscow
Moscow Moscow
Moscow
Moscow” is,
simply, delicious. Halley Feiffer’s
play is a contemporary adaptation
of “Three Sisters,” Chekhov’s
classic drama of poor choices and
impossible love amidst the rigid
social structure of a remote provincial
Russian town. Feiffer cuts
through the Chekhovian language
and languor to create a sprightly
piece while retaining the original’s
emotional underpinnings. Purists
may cavil, but this interpretation
underscores the fact that Chekhov
himself referred to his plays as
comedies.
“The three sisters — Olga, Masha
and Irina — are stuck in their
home in the country. They dream
of returning to Moscow where they
once lived a more exciting life. Their
brother Andrey, though, has gambled
away the family fortune, and
his social climbing wife Natasha is
making life miserable for the sisters.
Masha, given to dramatics,
longs for Vershinin, while trapped
in a bad marriage with Kulygin,
who is besotted with her. Olga has
given up on love and is a teacher
in a local school, and Irina, the
youngest and most idealistic, is being
courted by Tuzenbach, a rather
unpleasant but adequately situated
soldier.
Using some of Chekhov’s language,
Feiffer added lots of contemporary
idioms as well, illuminating
the story for a moderate audience
and cutting the play to a swift 95
minutes. Were it not for Trip Cullman’s
sharp direction and the
wonderful company, this might
feel like an intellectual exercise.
Instead, the piece has freshness,
excitement, and scope that manages,
too, to be an homage to the
original.
The company is a dream. Rebecca
Henderson is a stunning Olga,
her bitterness masked by biting
comedy. Tavi Gevinson is gamine
and innocent as Irina, only later
learning to accept life’s disappointments.
Benjamin Luis McCracken, Alexander Hernandez, Savina Zúñinga Varela, and Socorro Santiago in Luis
Alfaro’s “Mojada,” directed by Chay Yew, at the Public Theater through August 18.
Chris Perfetti is Masha, and
his sense of drama at the smallest
moment is one of the production’s
highlights. At the same time, he
embodies the Masha’s restlessness
and dissatisfaction with life. As
Natasha, the only character who
gets what she wants, Sas Goldberg
brilliantly — and vehemently —
takes over the house. Alfredo Narciso
as Vershinin, Steven Boyer as
Tuzenback, and Greg Hildreth as
Andrey are all excellent.
Mark Wendland’s simplistic platform
set is dominated by a large,
illuminated sign that says “Moscow”
in Russian with a cityscape
painting underneath. Ben Stanton’s
lighting is both atmospheric
and harsh, as required, and Paloma
Young’s costumes are simple,
move well, and convey all we need
to know about the characters, particularly
Masha’s romantic black
dress which has seen better days.
Anyone who “Three Sisters” is
keenly aware that the obsession
for going to Moscow as a means
of escape from torturous lives is a
recurring theme. One of the biggest
laughs of the play comes when
the sisters look at each other after
a bout of complaining about their
lives and say, “Or, we could just
leave.” Yes, it’s snarky, fl ippant,
and as Natasha says, “obvi,” but
it is also a perfect cap for Feiffer’s
deconstruction of “Three Sisters”
JOAN MARCUS
— and resonates beyond the gag,
prompting thought of the divide between
Chekhov’s world and ours.
Luis Alfaro’s new play “Mojada,”
now at the Public, recasts
Euripides’ “Medea” as an undocumented
immigrant laying low in
Corona, Queens. “Mojada” is a derogatory
term for Mexicans, and
Medea and her companion Jason
are struggling to make a new life
for themselves after a harrowing
journey to New York.
Medea — afraid to go out and
so, at the mercy of people who take
advantage of her skills as a seamstress
and pay her far less than
what she’s worth — only wants a
better life for her son. Jason, on
the other hand, is full of get-ahead
energy and decides to marry Pilar,
an immigrant who has become a
citizen and built a thriving business.
That Jason never married
Medea (a change from the original)
before coming to New York with her
is essential to the plot but one of
the few elements that seem forced
in the classic tale’s reimagining.
Medea is trapped, outraged, and
on her own. She exacts revenge on
Jason by poisoning Pilar and then
murdering her own son, Acan.
Where Euripides’ original is
huge and dramatic, Alfaro’s piece
is much smaller and contained to
the grim backyard of the house
where Medea and Jason live hidden
and at the mercy of Pilar. (Arnulfo
Maldonado did the excellent,
evocative set.) The piece gets its
emotional heft from portraying the
cost for Medea of leaving Mexico,
her hope of a new life giving way
to hopelessness as she realizes she
has nowhere to go and no one to
help her. In the current political
climate, “Mojada” is poignant and
heartbreaking. While extreme and
theatrical, we understand that
Medea’s fatal actions are not based
in evil but rather desperation.
Savina Zúñinga Varela plays
Medea with both simplicity and
depth. Her performance becomes
increasing electric as the character
is forced into her fi nal act of
violence. Alex Hernandez as Jason
is an excellent counterpoint to her,
exuding excitement at his potential
success, even as it distances him
from Medea and blinds him to her
suffering. Ada Maris is very strong
in an unsympathetic role as Pilar.
Socorro Santiago is charming and
funny as Tita, Medea’s servant who
has made the journey with them as
much out of love and devotion as a
need to escape. Vanessa Aspillaga
plays Luisa — a woman who exemplifi
es the world Medea is afraid to
go out into and prefers to be called
by the hipster name Lulu — with
verve. For all her brashness, however,
Luisa abandons Medea in her
moment of need, saying that in this
world it’s every man and woman
for themselves. It is that realization
that makes “Mojada” so tragic.
MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW
MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW
| MCC Theater, 511 W. 52nd St. |
Through Aug. 17: Tue.-Sat. at 7:30
p.m.; Wed., Sat. at 2:30 p.m. | $64-
$84 at mcc.theater.org or 646-506-
9393 | One hr., 35 mins., with no
intermission
MOJADA | The Public Theater, 475
Lafayette St., btwn. E. Fourth St. &
Astor Pl. | Through Aug. 18: Tue.-
Sun. at 8 p.m.; Sat.-Sun. at 2 p.m. |
$60 at publictheater.org or 212-966-
7555 | One hr., 45 mins., with no
intermission
August 1 - August 14, 2 24 019 | GayCityNews.com
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