153596381
Sarah Sanford often ponders her progression as a theater personality, using “Tell me, what do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” from poet Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day” as a cue for copious inquiries. Through numerous endeavors, the 39-year-old actress has received renown for her responses and is developing more replies as Olga Prozorova, one of the titular figures in the Arden Theatre Co.’s “Three Sisters” production.
“It’s tough to appraise what drew me to her in auditioning for the role, but I’d say her flaws have come to appeal to me,” the Dickinson Square West dweller said of the Anton Chekhov-created character. “I’m still figuring out how to play her and explore her blend of pragmatism and idealism.”
Familiar with the 1900 play in part through Pig Iron Theatre Co., for which she portrayed youngest sister Irina a few years ago, Sanford felt playing Olga, the oldest of the trio, with Masha in the middle, would offer additional perspective on the preciousness of time, as the primary players often fail to focus on the present by longing for a glorified future or a cherished past. The local resident, who has six South Philly-based peers executing the new translation by Curt Columbus, artistic director of Rhode Island’s Trinity Repertory Co., deemed Olga admirable for surviving her life’s disappointments, including the inability to find a mate, yet added the young woman, employed as a teacher and eventually a headmistress, must learn to tolerate individualism, especially within her clan.
“It’s very meaningful that she has the last words, as she’s the one to move her family into the next stage of life,” Sanford said of the relatives, who matured in Moscow yet begin the action residing in a provincial Russian town a year after their army officer father’s death. “There’s that sense of expectation coupled with practicality.”
Through the final utterances, which include such sentiments as “Our sufferings will pass into joy for those who will live after us…” and “If only we could know…,” the thespian has more fervently come to consider Chekhov as having contemporary clout and everlasting endurance as a master of emotional majesty. Exactingly examining family, the self, diligence and duty, “Three Sisters” encourages choosing resiliency over stagnancy and humility instead of hubris, selections that beckon one to balance personal beliefs with others’ input.
“Chekhov is always going to be timeless,” Sanford, who played Yelena Andreyevna for Lantern Theatre Co.’s 2010 staging of his “Uncle Vanya,” said of the esteemed playwright. “It’s easy to connect to it. For example, I’d say Olga understands survival, but I don’t think she has ever been in love. Those are elements of many lives, getting by yet longing for love. There’s no narrowing in this play or his other works. We have to confront what’s irking us and go after what excites us.”
Bowing to the pull to perform at 6, Sanford pursued dancing and acting as a Connecticut youth, even coveting the lead role in a high school production of “Hamlet.”
“I landed the part of Ophelia, and I was crushed,” she said laughing, noting how William Shakespeare, Chekhov and Norwegian scribe Henrik Ibsen have teamed up to form a triumvirate of ageless word-wielding wizards who complement her fascination with crafters of avant-garde works. “Regardless of my task, though, I was curious about seeing what I could do with more preparation.”
Fascination with academics led Sanford to Swarthmore College, where theatre, especially through directing, emerged as a passion.
“It was kind of a magical place that really ignited something within me,” she said of the Delaware County campus. “It provided such inspiration.”
Another site lauded for its creative qualities, Paris, next played her muse, with Sanford studying at the École Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq. She moved to Philadelphia in ’01 and joined Pig Iron the next year, establishing a union that has yielded acting turns and a faculty position within its School for Advanced Performance Training.
“I was fortunate to find a home there right out of the gate,” Sanford said of the 19-year-old entity. “As I had no concrete plan when coming to Philadelphia because I was still very much working on knowing myself, I loved being able to advance Pig Iron’s mission.”
The company appealed to her avant-garde sensitivities, with Sanford eventually growing hungry to work in other forms. Through her first Philadelphia stop and behemoths like the Arden, Lantern, Mauckingbird Theatre Co., The Wilma Theater and Theatre Exile, 1340 S. 13th St., she has compiled an impressive list of credits and has called upon her dancing days to land choreography assignments with Lantern and the Quintessence Theatre Group.
“It’s been an interesting journey, and I’m looking forward to new challenges,” the ’10 F. Otto Haas Award recipient for Emerging Theater Artist said.
Those tasks will certainly include a return to directing, a vocation that helped her to claim Best Emerging Director status at the ’06 Toronto-situated SummerWorks Performance Festival for “Appetite,” which she brought to Philadelphia in ’09.
“It’s odd because nothing feels comfortable to me about directing, but I know when I’m doing it, all my senses are buzzing,” Sanford, who will helm “The Underground Railroad Games” at The Church of the Crucifixion, 620 S. Eighth St., April 21 said. “I’ve made peace with where it lives in my life.”
As for the rest of her existence, Sanford is preparing for her July wedding to fellow Pig Iron product James Sugg and is enthusiastically commencing her life as a vegan. She intends to become more of a contributor as a teacher than as a performer, but no matter the endeavor, she, like Olga, will look to be nurturing.
“I’m becoming more accepting,” Sanford said. “If only we could know, right?” ■
For tickets, visit ardentheatre.org.
Contact Managing Editor Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124. Comment at southphillyreview.com/news/lifestyles.
153596401
153596391
