Seeds of Time Festival.  In collaboration with Play On Shakespeare, this groundbreaking three-week festival presents six teams of artists exploring and reenvisioning world classics with interactive public events, inviting audiences to witness the evolution of classic narratives and engage in conversations about their relevance today. Special attention will be given to teaching the insights and skills of dramaturgy.

TRI SESTRY
A bold reimagining of Chekhov’s Three Sisters by Robert Parsons.

Tri Sestry—Russian for Three Sisters—is a bold reimagining of the Chekhov classic, seen through the eyes of Anfisa, the overlooked housekeeper who has been trapped inside every production of the play since its 1901 premiere at the Moscow Art Theatre. In a cosmic twist, Anfisa is “quantum-leaped” into the body of Mama Juana, a Mexican housekeeper in a present-day Texas border town. Determined to escape a century of thankless servitude, Juana draws on her mysterious powers to rewrite the ending of Three Sisters—hoping to finally break the cycle and set herself free. While honoring the emotional core of Chekhov’s original, Tri Sestry spins the familiar into the fantastical, mixing 70s television tropes, Mariachi classics, Journey’s greatest hits, and ghostly projections into a theatrical universe where time loops, lives blur, and history itself might be coaxed into letting go. The result is a cross-dimensional fever dream of birth, death, memory, and reawakening—where physical laws bend, and repetition gives way to release.  

About the Artist:  

Robert Parsons has been an actor, teacher and director in the Bay Area and beyond for over 25 years. Writing credits include the adaptations Vanya Without Bullets (based on Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov), and Tri Sestry, (in development and based on Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov) Bay Area acting credits include work at Marin Shakespeare Company, Marin Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, Magic Theatre, Aurora Theatre Company, Shotgun Players, SF Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, TheatreWorks, Word for Word, Cutting Ball, San Jose Stage Company and Center Rep. Regional credits include work at Ford’s Theatre, Ahmanson Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Huntington Theatre Company, Alley Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company and The Sydney Festival. Film Credits include: Freaky Tales, Sunday Errand, Fairyland, Freeland , Prufrock (Pixar) and Black August. https://www.robertparsonsactor.com