Three zombie Sisters at Bell Foundry in Baltimore this weekend

The ACME theatre, which I’ve done a brief piece on, will be going up with a new version of the Three Sisters this weekend. But don’t expect mustached colonels in late 19^th century Russian military attire.

The director is Yury Urnov, currently based in Baltimore and now in his third year as our local Russian director. His past productions include One Hour Eighteen Minutes  and Tanya Tanya (see him being interviewed here by Moscow Times theatre critic John Freedman). He’ll also be directing You For Me For You, by Korean-American playwright Mia Chung, next November at Woolly Mammoth.

And true to form, Urnov is going to place his stamp on the Chekhov play which he’s re-titled Thr3e Zisters. Here’s a chunk from the press release, which gives you some idea of what to expect:

“The production begins with the premise that Chekhov’s 19^th century characters from the Prozorov household are byproducts of a past era—unknowable to our sophisticated 21^st century sensibilities. And so, in this re-envisioning, the members of the Russian military who encounter the sisters and their brother Andre are contemporary soldiers working on the excavation of the Prozorovs and their world. These “zombie” three sisters are dug up from the ground and reanimated, and 19^th and 21^st centuries collide with humorous and amorous results.”

Sounds interesting. And even if you don’t like it when people mess with the classics, it’s free, so you can walk out without wasting any of your hard-earned cash.

The production will be in the backyard of the Bell Foundry, at 1539 North Calvert Street, located two blocks from Penn Station (in case you’re coming up from DC via the Marc). It will also feature some of Towson University’s faculty: the cutting edge choreographer Naoko Maeshiba and lighting designer Eric Nightengale.

Honestly. I’ve heard this one explained to me before, and still, I have no idea what to expect.  But I do expect quality: these artists all have connections with Towson University Theatre Department.

More info about ACME Theatre can be found here.