3STRS by Luk Perceval. Reading Experience

Abstract

This article seeks to interpret the performance 3STRS by the Belgian director Luk Perceval, taking into account the poetics of Anton Chekhov’s plays. Attention is drawn to the preservation or omission of individual scenes, motifs, and dialogues, and to the spatial and temporal characteristics of the performance, the semantics of the title and the techniques used. Perceval’s heroes are in a hall, surrounded by glass walls that crush, double, reflect and expose the hidden essence of their tragic life. The tragic situation of the characters is enhanced by the sparse decoration, as well as music based on samples. The intensification of the ugly, the lack of logic in the development of events, the unmotivated actions of the characters, the presence of a psychological vacuum, the inability of the characters to achieve mutual understanding, and the tragic ending bring Perceval’s interpretation closer to the theater of the absurd. Chekhov’s play is an impetus for the director to think about the topic of old age, not only personally, but also more generally, such as the aging of the European continent, migrants, euthanasia, low fertility, and the approach of a global catastrophe, as well as loneliness and the absurdity of existence, the inability of people to communicate etc.