|  Dark
secrets hidden in the grey mists of time
are reluctantly revealed in this excellent
black comedy. Set in a small village in
1880's Russia, Anya and Sonia are goaded
into recollecting some things they'd rather
forget from their earlier years, upon the
bizarre discovery of an empty coffin in
Anya's lodgings.
Anya and Sonia now in their fortiess have
an easy-going relationship with one another.
They seem to love each other as sisters
should, and are each able to make jokes
and poke fun at the other’s expense.
This is surprising as twenty-five years
before, they both fell in love with the
same man, Anya much more so than Sonia,
but it was the older Sonia who married him
and bore his child. On his untimely death
soon afterwards, Anya was so distraught
that she tried to end her life, and the
pregnant Sonia, was quickly forced to marry
again, in order to support her and her new
baby.
The coffin acts as a catalyst to Anya as
she recounts how, before he died, she tried
to protect Sonia from discovering the truth
about André when she saw him 'in
delicto flagrante' with a girl from the
village. She had the idea of getting rid
of the problem by feeding the girl cake
into which she had mixed ground-up glass.
With this girl successfully despatched,
their lives returned to normal until some
weeks later, quite by chance, she saw André
with another village girl. She adopted her
successful stratagem again, only to find
that both the girl and André had
eaten the cake. They both died and she now
reveals to Sonia that, given her love for
him, it was her involvement in André’s
death, not the fact that he was dead, that
was the reason for her attempted suicide.
 Sonia
for her part, then informs Anya that she
was well aware of his indiscretions, and
in due to their cooling relationship, it
was she, Sonia, who after they had married,
had supplied the girls to him as ‘artists
models’. Each is amazed at their ability
to keep these secrets from each other for
nearly a quarter of a century – during
which time both have led less than happy
lives. Can they remain friends with the
memories of Andre returning to haunt them?
And the coffin? Simply left there temporarily
by an undertaker friend whose business assets
are about to be re-possessed.
‘Two Sisters’ was first performed
in July 2006 at the Buxton Festival followed
by a regional tour of the UK. Caroline Harding
and Candida Gubbins (both of whom are successful
theatre and TV actors) took the roles of
Sonia and Anya, and the production was directed
by Chris Gascoyne (best known as Peter Barlow
in ‘Coronation Street’). It
was nominated for two Manchester Evening
News Awards at the 24/7 New Writing Festival
in Manchester that year for Best Play and
Best Performances. |
