NXT's Fall of the Wall season gets off to a shaky start with this Chekhovian-style family drama, which explores the tensions between Estonia and Russia, which occupied the Baltic state for half a century until 1991.
Svetlana, Maria and Elena are the three sisters who show no signs of longing to go to Moscow but appear reasonably happy in the seaside dacha where their Muscovite father settled 40 years previously. Since independence, life has not been easy for them. The two elder sisters have lost their jobs as Russian teachers in Estonian schools, and the youngest, Elena, who is celebrating her 21st birthday, is unsettled and bored by her Russian policeman fiancé.
Still, they believe themselves luckier than most - their Moscow-based cousin Vassily is a bit of an entrepreneur. They are now the Estonian branch of the family business - something to do with scrap metal, apparently. What's more, Vassily is about to make his first visit in 20 years.
While author Steven Dykes may fancy this as a latter-day Three Sisters, it actually bears more resemblance to an Agatha Christie thriller. To complicate things further, Vassily turns out to be less of a businessman and more of a gangster - and the walking, talking embodiment of Russia's thuggish attitudes towards its former colony.
The fact that the play has been carefully researched doesn't make it feel any more authentic - but the real problem is that it never makes up its mind whether it's a political debate or a skeleton-in-the-family-closet thriller. In an evening of talk, talk, talk the result is nothing but hot air.
Until November 27. Box office: 0171-228 8828
