Alex Babec

This prospective design of Benedict Andrew's 2012 version of Chekhov's Three Sisters is placed within Trafalgar Studios. The updated text, emphasized with a range of music from Bowie to Big Band to Russian Folk, lends itself to mixture of ideas and time.  

I chose to design an ambiguously modern production of Three Sisters, incorporating elements of Russia and the West in the last sixty years, as the music for Benedict Andrew's version does. It is set within a cement bunker with the forest replaced by hanging air fresheners. The furniture is early early twentieth century and as the play progresses, it becomes more and more compressed as the three sisters loose their control. I focused on the sparse elements of humor to heighten the bleakness of the story, as well as showing the character transitions as indicators of the plot and themes. The costumes are of the last fifty years, giving an antiquated feel that makes the audience wonder how long the Prozorovs have been in the bunker and what exactly the role of the simplified army men is.