Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Three Sisters, Lyttelton, National Theatre
Nigerian civil war retelling of Chekhov classic is a real coup
The cast of Three Sisters. [The Other Richard]

ANTON Chekhov's classic play has been transported from mid-19th century Russia to 1960s Nigeria, a country in the midst of the Biafran civil war, in this captivating retelling by Inua Ellams.

His version of the three sisters are Lolo, Nne Chukwu and Udo, the Igbo daughters of the revolution who have fled Lagos to the Biafran capital Owerri in the south of Nigeria.

Mourning the loss of their father, who was apparently something of a leader for the Biafran cause, the trio romanticise about returning to Lagos while youngest Udo (Racheal Ofori), who is clearly at a loss to the point of the war, longs to find purpose in life.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
kuti
Global Routes / 17 November 2025
17 November 2025

TONY BURKE recommends a new podcast about the legenary Nigerian musician and political activist FELA KUTI

cyrano
Theatre review / 8 October 2025
8 October 2025

GORDON PARSONS is blown away by a superb production of Rostand’s comedy of verbal panache and swordmanship

fiddler
Theatre review / 9 June 2025
9 June 2025

WILL STONE applauds a fine production that endures because its ever-relevant portrait of persecution

THE PAST INFORMS THE FUTURE: People visit the mausoleum for Burkina Faso's revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara in Ouagadougou, inaugurated last Saturday
Features / 23 May 2025
23 May 2025

PRABHAT PATNAIK details the epochal shift of political power from Western neocolonialists to the people