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THE RIVER AUTUMN 2015 CULTURE 23 THREE DAYS IN THE COUNTRY From 21 July to 21 October The National Theatre Upper Ground South Bank SE1 9PX t 020 7452 3000 w www.nationaltheatre.org.uk and cynical humour too. The intelligent staging of the play is one of its most enjoyable aspects echoing Brechts Epic Theatre the theory that performance can be a vehicle for objectivity and self- reflection rather than just an escape into an alternate reality. Towards the back of the stage each actor and actress sat in a row of chairs visible to the audience even when not on- stage reminding us that we were watching a performance and forcing us to be analytical of what was being said rather than becoming lost in a story. At times I stopped seeing Simm as the misanthropic Rakitin and saw his despondency as an exaggeration of my own frustrations. The minimalistic set and snappy rarely-a-line-wasted dialogue added to this clever disillusionment ensuring that the audience were never distracted by unnecessary chatter. The Lyttelton Theatre at the National is no small performance area and the director was not afraid to use the space as much as possible. Making sure the actors stayed a fair distance apart gave a great impression of the vast and expansive Russian countryside and also meant that when the characters did get close their coming together was more meaningful. John Simm in his various television and film roles is an actor who manages to vocalise frustration and entrapment extremely well and his lovesick Rakitin is just as powerful. His punchy sarcasm is a joy as it cuts through the mounting tension. Mark Gatiss Wolf Hall Game of Thrones is also very funny as the eccentric yet brutally honest doctor Shpigelsky. In fact each character manages to effectively portray a different convention of love and Lily Sacofsky in her theatrical debut does a solid job of illustrating the recklessness of first love. Three Days in the Country shows us that love is not always the pure thing we hope it to be. Love can steer people towards bad decisions love is the shards we are left to pick up after being shattered it is the jealousy and anger of unrequited affection and the tragedy of a truly broken heart that never fully heals. The characters in turn articulate these despairing feelings in a way that most of us at some point in our lives have wanted to. The play is certainly not all doom and gloom there is a huge amount of humour and charm borne of each characters flawed personality. So even though the setting characters and costumes are from another time and place the message remains universal. Marbers interpretation shows us the honest uncomfortable truths of love