As college students, we are taking the next big step in building a new and improved future for ourselves. Aside from not owing thousands in student loans, the women portrayed in “Three Sisters” share a similar mindset and yearn to be free of their unhappy lives.

Quinnipiac University’s theater program presented “Three Sisters,” a Russian play written by Anton Chekhov, in the Theatre Arts Center from Oct. 26 to Nov. 6.

“Three Sisters” is the first production with a live audience since the theater department performed “Rage” in February 2020.

It’s the year 1900 and the production stars — you guessed it — three sisters. They are all greatly dissatisfied with their lives in their small Russian town. Their parents died, and now the sisters all live together in a big estate with their brother, Andrei, played by Dean DeMarino, a freshman computer science major.

“It’s really about family and growth and relationships,” said SamanthaHart, a junior film, television and media arts major who plays the youngest sister. “It’s super realistic on how they sort of grow together over the years … we get really personal with each character and we see their hopes and dreams and just the progression of their life in comparison to what they want it to be.”

All of the actors in “Three Sisters” did a phenomenal job bringing their complex characters to life on stage. Each character was fully realized and played an important role in telling the story. The casting was so immaculate that if a movie adaptation were made of this production, I could easily see every one of the actors taking their roles to the big screen. The emotion and drive of every performer were evident.

The sisters’ bond on and offstage was also barefaced throughout the whole of the performance.

Olga, portrayed by Kayla Jarry, a senior theater major in the elementary 4 +1 masters in education program, plays the oldest sister out of the three leading ladies and acts like a mother figure to her two younger siblings. Masha, portrayed by Sarah Brown, a junior biology major, is the self-serving, musically inclined and hostile middle child who is aware of her needs as a woman cemented in a deteriorating marriage and is not afraid to act on them.

“Masha definitely has a case of middle-child syndrome,” Brown said.

Irina, portrayed by Hart, is severely optimistic, spoiled and has the strongest desire to move back to Moscow. However, it’s unclear as to why moving to the big city is unachievable especially if you consider the family’s seemingly large wealth.

As one could imagine, developing each of these roles was not an effortless process, even though the actors made it appear that way on stage.

“(Preparing for the show has) been so intense, but I think spending so much time with each other has really created such a bond with the cast,” Hart said.

The period drama deals with the themes of dissatisfaction and the unachievable desire for happiness.

Brown’s character married her husband Kulygin, portrayed by Alice Maho, a junior theater major, when she was only 18 years old. Brown said he “was just kind of the best that their small town had to offer.”

Now in her mid-20s, she has grown out of her love for her spouse, which drives her to have a not-so-secret affair with the new commanding officer of the army, Vershinin, played by Bash Sarkar, a sophomore finance major. Vershinin worked alongside the sisters’ father in Moscow before he passed and knew the girls when they were little. If this couldn’t become more complicated, Vershinin is also still married.

By the end of the play, the affair is aborted when Vershinin has to leave with his military unit. Masha is now forever cemented in her loveless marriage with Kulygin.

Aside from moving to Moscow, Irina also desperately wants to work, despite her upper-class status, as she believes it will provide her with true happiness and fulfillment in her dull life.

It’s unclear where she got this nonsensical idea from, but I digress.

When Irina faces the reality of her first work experience at a telegraph office, she expresses that she’s exhausted and miserable. However, she still believes fulfillment lies in the occupational field so by the end of act three, she earns her teaching license.

Irina also has a longing to find love in Moscow. Since making the move to Moscow is inconceivable, she settles for Lt. Baron Tuzenbach, played by Billy Schillinger, a senior film, television and media arts major, who, like Kulygin once was for Masha, is seemingly her best option in her small town.