Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov is a stirring play about endless grief, the hazy terrors of an unknown future, the solidarity among sisters and the pitfalls of love. Partially inspired by the story of the three Bronta sisters, the play is a work of both subtleties of language and of emotion. The adaptation of Chekhov's play by modern playwright Tracy Letts is currently playing at the Laurie Theater in the Spingold Theater Center and is being put on by the Brandeis Theater Company. The show starts off with a set filled with the trappings of a wealthy family. A small piano stands in a corner, and glass stemware adorns the long dinner table set for a large party. We learn the names of the three Prozorov sisters. From oldest to youngest, they are Olga, Masha and Irina. Olga, played by Renana Gal '12, is motherly and quite obviously the matriarch of the family. Though she is only 28 years old, she is a spinster and would take any man who would have her. Masha, played by Tanya Dougherty (GRAD), is only 25 at the beginning of the play but is already married. She is the quickest to anger of the three sisters and the most caustic. Finally, in a complete contrast to Masha, there is the young Irina, played by Samantha Richert (GRAD). She is the most idealistic and constantly croons over the idea of returning to Moscow. She waits for the time when she can return to the place of her fantasies and find the man of her dreams there as well. The three sisters are supported by their also-intelligent brother, Andrey, played by Ben Rosenblatt (GRAD). Despite being called the "genius" of the family who is well on his way to becoming a professor in Moscow, Andrey is plagued by relationship issues with his soon-to-be wife Natasha, played by Japonica Brown (GRAD).

Things quickly start to deteriorate in the second act. Natasha starts to take over the home, soldiers begin to cause turbulence in the sisters' love lives and the dream of returning to Moscow for all three sisters starts to fade away. Only heartache and suffering seem to reveal themselves from the fog of their futures. The gaiety and happiness of the first act are completely erased in the last act as preceding events lead to the sisters' separation of ways. The play ends on a melancholic note as echoes of the words, "What difference does it make? If only we knew," fade into the blackout.

The actors were all robust and energetic in their attitudes and performance. Three Sisters is a play that is fueled by theatrical energy, but balances on a tightrope of emotional subtlety that is all too important but very easy to lose. One actor that successfully tiptoed this line was Richert. She performs the fall from happiness well, as Irina begins to feel her dreams slip away from her. Throughout, she related well with other actors and reacted with grace. Her monologue in the latter half of the play, in which she grieves about her immaterialized hopes to return to Moscow, was angry and touching. However, it felt insistent and slightly adamant about its message. In the beginning of the play, Irina was the youngest and most idealistic. She was still enchanted with spinning playthings and dreamt things only a young girl would dream. Richert played her with a maturity that seemed unbefitting for her years, and when the time came for the crushing disillusionment, she needed to deliver more in order to make the anger feel real.

The constant deluge of arcane Soviet ideas stuffed into the symbolism and text of the play was jarring with the very American accents and demeanor that most of the actors sported. The strange mix of modern language along with more highbrow diction took away from the show to the point where one almost wonders what Tracy Letts even did with the original Chekhov book beside throw in a few lines with current lingo. It felt abridged rather than adapted.

Also, there were two types of humor that fought for the audience's attention in the show. First was the witty and clever-rather than laugh-out-loud funny-banter between the characters that one can only attribute to Chekhov's artfulness. Then there were jokes that were crude and only there for surprise laughs. Who knows whom to blame for that? Again, the strange hodgepodge conglomeration of modern and older language reared its head. This adaptation is less itself than its original predecessor, and yet the original bogs it down. If the new elements of the adaption were obvious and wholly embraced, that might have helped to lift the arcane fog that weighs over the show; it is the careless throwing in of current language and flimsy humor that ultimately makes the show less enjoyable.

However, this show is by and large about grief and suffering rather than humor. In this aspect, the play excels. The actors all perform the passions of sadness, love, anger, disappointment, bitterness and healing with grace and empathy. Some monologues are touching to the point of tear-jerking, and some are beautiful to the point of awe. And though Three Sisters is very heavy in its ideas, the melancholy that follows after watching the play is pleasing and enlightening. There really is nothing but suffering in this world, and it's difficult to escape, but when one sees it performed on the stage, it provides a sense of closure. The solidarity between family members can overcome any hazy and terrifying future, no matter what suffering one is going through right now.

Three Sisters is playing in the Laurie Theater until Oct. 10. See the calender on page 18 for more information.