Haywood Arts Regional Theatre concludes its 2005 season with one of these classic Chekhov plays Ñ The Three Sisters Ñ for a two-weekend run Nov. 11-20 at the Performing Arts Center in Waynesville.

Set in early 20th century Russia before the Communist Revolution, The Three Sisters is a dark play, riddled with characters who argue, joke and philosophize as they muddle through drunkenness, gambling, extramarital affairs and self-doubts about their careers or family situations. Three Prozorov sisters Ñ Olga, Masha and Irina Ñ and their brother Andrei live in a small, provincial town where they struggle to find meaning in their lives. While Masha has a romantic affair to escape her dreary marriage, Irina longs to go to Moscow, where the family used to live. When an army company gets stationed in this small town, the soldiers usher in a new burst of energy, and Moscow, that distant city of dreams, becomes a symbol of hope.

TheyÕre dying to get back to Moscow because they think that will make them happy, explains Lloyd Kay, director of The Three Sisters.

Kay, who previously directed a masterful version of ChekhovÕs Uncle Vanya several seasons ago in the studio space of HARTÕs Performing Arts Center, once again has his hands full with a clever drama that demands serious actors seething with psychological tension. Trying to capture the subtle nuances of these characters becomes both a challenge and a discovery for the cast that includes new and experienced actors. Several years pass in the plot of the four-act play, and the characters go through some amazing transformations, according to Kay. Capturing those transformations means attending to every minute detail on stage from blocking to props to scene changes Ñ even if that means three- and four-hour rehearsals.

This is KayÕs fourth time being involved with a Three Sisters play. He stage managed the show in Cincinnati, then acted in two different roles in a pair of off-Broadway productions. Why such devotion to Chekhov?

His plays are full of absolutely fascinating characters, Kay explained during a recent HART rehearsal.

One of those characters is Dr. Chebuytkin, played in the HART production by veteran actor and Western Carolina University English professor Terry Neinhuis. Chebuytkin is a drunken doctor plagued by the guilt of a former patientÕs death, but playing a drunk is not as easy as it would appear. Along with the slurred speech and stumbling walk, the character has to give the audience a reason to empathize with a man who once devoted his life to fixing people and is now broken himself. His failure to live up to potential and help people is emblematic of a failing Russian society at that time, Neinhuis explained. It shows ChekhovÕs intuition in seeing Russian aristocracy as a mountain of cards ready to collapse, Neinhuis added.

Painting a dysfunctional picture of aristocratic Russia proved to be wildly popular for Communists in the 1920s, according to HART executive director Steve Lloyd. Communist leaders used ChekhovÕs plays to show the public how horrible society had become and why it needed to change. Lloyd plays Vershinin, a Russian military commander who has an affair with Masha, one of the three sisters. Early on in the play, Vershinin, who is unhappily married, expounds on his theory of the evolution of happiness, arguing that his generation has no right to expect happiness but each generation lays the foundation for future generations who will one day enjoy a long-awaited contentment.

Whether the problems these characters face can be solved by massive societal changes or by improving individual responsibility, Chekhov gives us plenty to ponder in The Three Sisters.

Three Sisters will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11, 12, 18 and 19 and at 3 p.m. Nov. 20. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $6 for students. Student tickets are $5 for the Sunday, Nov. 20 performance. The Performing Arts Center is located at 250 Pigeon Street on Highway 276 South in Waynesville. The HART box office is open from 1-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information or to reserve tickets, call 828.456.6322.