Play-ception: An Analysis of Vodolazkin's Sister of the Four
The play Sister of the Four (2020) by Evgeny Vodolazkin showcases an unexpected intersection in the lives of a diverse set of four characters as they wait to die in a hospital after being infected by the coronavirus. The identities of the characters are varied, ranging from men working in medicine, the military, literature, and even the food industry. In a time where people worldwide are donning face masks to protect against the coronavirus, Vodolazkin’s Sister of the Four utilizes the four characters (plus the Nurse figure) during the peak of the pandemic as actors of a play within the play, interacting in a confession session and revealing one another's true selves beneath the figurative masks they wear in society.
Nobody in Sister of the Four is who they say they are upon initially meeting. While at the start all of the characters present themselves with the "mask" of their constructed personas that they use to navigate the world, their real experiences and personalities are exposed by the end of the play. The first instance of the constructed self of each character breaking down is a writing scene with the Writer and Funghi (13). Funghi, a pizza delivery man by day, surprises himself by displaying a knack for storytelling that even the Writer cannot match (33). Ironically, one of the most repeated words in the play is "honesty" (15 times over the course of the entire play), but as each character lets on more about themselves, we see that they have been dishonest and inauthentic in various ways. While the backgrounds of Funghi, the Writer, the Deputy and the Doctor are shrouded in mystery and falsehoods, through observing their conversation with one another readers get a glimpse of the full truth of each man. They are hesitant to share accurate information about themselves upon first meeting one another, but following the Nurse’s "revelation" that she is Death and that everyone in the vicinity was to die from their illness (28), readers learn that Funghi scrapes by delivering "expired pizzas" (37), the Writer barely writes (34), the Deputy is really a con-artist (41), and the Doctor is not even licensed to practice medicine (36). It takes a brush with death for the four to acknowledge the false pretenses they have been living under and reveal their truth to others and, most importantly, to themselves.
Each of the characters thinks they are putting on a convincing show of their identities, but their lack of self-awareness is unveiled by their interactions with one another. For example, this tendency is first illustrated by the Nurse incorrectly guessing Funghi’s temperature in the beginning of the play, and the Doctor openly questioning how to take his temperature (4). Any medical professional worth their salt would know these procedures without skipping a beat, but Vodolazkin inserts these details in order to plant a seed of suspicion in the minds of readers that blooms over the course of the play. Subsequently, when Funghi meets the Deputy, he immediately questions the authenticity of his credentials, a bold action to take against someone you have just met (16). Another instance of the lapse in cognizance is the Writer’s inability to notice a bruise on his own face, as it is not until the Nurse points it out that he knows about it (16). Every character has a role to play in illuminating something about another character, since the characters are unable to do this for themselves, which gives readers a unique insight into the dynamics Vodolazkin has created for his characters.
The character of the Nurse who doubles as “Death” by her own account is a major catalyst for the confession scene, as she encourages the men to bare their souls before they meet their end. Characters offer to play other characters’ significant others and use language like "reenactment, scene" and "roles" in the second act of the play (37-39), giving the reader the impression that they are observing a play within Sister of the Four. After the previous demonstration of the four men's lack of self-awareness, the exposure of one another's faults leads to a shift to introspection and a self-reckoning for Funghi, the Writer, the Doctor and the Deputy. Death/the Nurse is also playing a role: She dresses up in all black and carries a scythe while the men role play with each other (41). It is because the characters are made aware of how they appeared to the world that they were able to process their previous deceit and lay it all behind them through the confession scene. The portion of the play where the police officer handcuffs the Deputy and tells him to take off his face mask is particularly striking, as moments before while he was putting the mask on, the Deputy states, "But that doesn’t matter anymore" (45). This exchange could be interpreted as a reference to the figurative masks the characters had worn upon their arrival to the hospital, which had now been removed, and acknowledgement that it was pointless to continue the charade of his old way of existing in the world as death was imminent and he had already confessed his wrongdoings to the world.
Vodolazkin chooses to use a play within a play in Sister of the Four as a way for characters to remove the mask of one another’s false identities through the intense bond created by their shared predicament of impending death by coronavirus. The play is a mirror to what some have been experiencing during lockdown, as our lives up until the coronavirus had seemed so meticulously planned out and constructed, and like the characters in Vodolazkin's play, our lives have also been turned upside down with uncertainty. Many have been made to come to terms with their real selves after having been trapped in quarantine for upwards of half the year; many have had to confront the "masks" we wear and reassess our role in our own lives and the wider world around us.
Bibliography
Vodolazkin, Evgeny. “Sister of the Four.” Plough, 27 May 2020, www.plough.com/en/topics/culture/literature/sister-of-the-four.
