In Chekhov's The Three Sisters, Masha broods and lashes out, much like Gloria, played by Leanne Best in Butterworth's play. Masha's sister Olga takes care of the family, though she misses out on any chance for love, as is true of Butterworth's Jill, played by Helena Wilson. The youngest sister in Chekhov's play, Irine, tries to maintain a sunny disposition even as everything falls apart, rather like Ruby, played by Ophelia Lovibond in The Hills of California.
But what if there had been a fourth sister, one who actually escaped life in the provinces and finally made it all the way to Moscow... or perhaps California? This provides a departure from Chekhov's set-up, and the fourth sister in Butterworth's play is a looming presence throughout, even when she isn't on stage. Her name is Joan, and she is beautifully played by Olivier-winning actress Laura Donnelly, known to many as Amalia True from the television show The Nevers.
Why Joan has been away so long and is only returning to the family home in Blackpool now that their mother is dying is a central question in the play. Butterworth hints at the answer in a series of scenes flashing back twenty-one years earlier to when the four girls formed a singing quartet organized by their mother Veronica. Donnelly plays Veronica in these flashbacks, while the four girls are played by younger actors who blend their voices harmoniously in a series of musical numbers.
By the end, we do get a certain answer to the mystery of Joan's long absence, but in true Chekhovian fashion, the play unwinds anti-climactically rather than ending with a bang like Butterworth's previous play Jerusalem. The performances are wonderful, and the play is definitely worth seeing, especially if you long to see Russian melancholy transferred to a declining resort town in England.
