The Three Sisters (Android Version)

The Three Sisters, a futuristic adaptation by the Japanese playwright Oriza Hirata. A small town in Japan, where the once-thriving robotics industry is in decline. Three sisters and their brother are preparing to mark the anniversary of their father’s death. Chekhovian themes unfold: isolation, the collapse of a world, and the dream of moving to the capital. Yet here, all this takes on a peculiar and strange resonance. Whilst humans live alongside robots, this modern, upmarket house seems to be slowly slipping into neglect. Its inhabitants are ‘no doubt in the process of losing all affection’ for it. An old-model domestic robot is desperately trying to draw up a menu for the guests’ meal. One of the three sisters was replaced upon her death by an android. Her father, a researcher in cutting-edge robotics, programmed her to say exactly what she thinks and never to lie. And nothing goes according to plan in this house where, like a Maeterlinck of the future, Hirata explores the tragedy of everyday life and ponders ‘what is so astonishing about the mere fact of living’ (Maeterlinck)