Sisters

Year
1984 - 1985

Creatives
Director: Wim Thommassen

Production manager: Hans Jansen

Assistant Producer: Mia Olthof

Writer
David Storey

Synopsis
Two sisters meet again, after a separation of seven years. Adrienne Stanforth has made a career in the theatre world, Carol Lomax lives an apparently uneventful life with her husband Tom in a small town in the North Midlands. "Apparently" is a keyword in the plot; thus from the very first scene, questions arise about Carol's house ("What is this house? What goes on upstairs?"), a technique that Storey used again in Home (1970). In the latter play it is not until half-way through that it becomes clear that the setting is an asylum. In Sisters, further questions are raised by Adrienne's curious behavior and way of talking. Naturally, these are effective plot elements in this psychological thriller, but the uncertainties are also thematic. The characters all cling to lies and illusions; to their past, their jobs, or their dreams and fantasies. Storey portrays them fairly mildly, however, showing how they depend on each other in their vulnerability ("We're held together by our mutual dependency"), and lodging the past in the plot as a binding force they cannot overcome. He offers no choice, no alternative, no solution. Some of the characters manage to hold their own with the help of their fixed ideas, for others the dreams and illusions are insufficient in the conflicts that arise. There is never complete certainty; the play has an open ending, and a crucial off-stage incident is not cleared up. It has been pointed out that Sisters resembles Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, but although there are obvious similarities, the English play, with its uncertainties and its elusive characters, is essentially different from its American predecessor. Sisters was first presented at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, on 12 September 1978, under the direction of Eric Thompson. GUTS was the first company to perform the play in the Netherlands. The play is set in the living-room of Tom and Carol's house in the North Midlands. Act I is an early afternoon towards the end of autumn, Act II is the evening of the same day, Act III presents the audience with the early morning of the next day.

Cast
Clariet Alofs: Carol

Lidwien Biekmann: Adrienne

Heleen Brinkman: Joanna

Frans Hempen: Crawford

Gerard Kingma: Terry

Hanneke Niesink: Mrs. Donaldson

Ingrid van Tuinen: Beryl

Erik Verhagen: Tom

Crew
Freddy Brossois (Sets)

Marilous Engels (Costumes, Sets, Props)

Helga Humbert (Sets)

Fokke de Jong (Costumes, Sets, Props)

Rudy Noordenbos (Photography)

Mia Olthof (Prompter)

Pien van Shayk (Make-Up)

Ingrid van Tuinen (Prompter)

Performances
May 1985

September 11th 1985: Toneelzaal Alphagebouw

September 12th 1985: Toneelzaal Alphagebouw