`Sisters' a touching, funny play.

Byline: Dorothy Velasco The Register-Guard

``The Sisters Rosensweig'' is a love letter to sisters everywhere - sisters who may be far from perfect, but who have to love one another no matter what.

Now playing at Very Little Theatre in a production ably directed by Maggie Tryk, the tender comedy by the late Wendy Wasserstein focuses on who we were, who we are and where are we going - and, what constitutes an appropriate male companion.

The action takes place in the tastefully decorated London home of Sara, formerly of Brooklyn. She was always an excellent student, and she has clawed her way up to being a highly successful bank executive. As a single parent she is raising her smart teen-age daughter to be self-sufficient.

Her two sisters, Pfeni and Gorgeous, come to visit for her 54th birthday. Pfeni is a travel writer constantly on the go, formerly a political writer of books about class and gender in the <302>``-stan'' countries.

Pfeni has long been involved with Geoffrey, a British bisexual stage director. Now that she's 40, she thinks maybe it's time to settle down with him.

Gorgeous, once the prettiest of the three sisters, is a busy-body who hosts an advice show on local radio in Massachusetts. She seems to have the traditional marriage to an attorney that their mother had wished for all of them.

But none of the sisters is particularly happy. They make reference to Anton Chekhov's renowned play, ``The Three Sisters.'' In that play, the sisters are trapped on a country estate without the means to go to Moscow, where the action is.

In this case, the sisters can go pretty much wherever they want, but life isn't happening the way they want. There always seems to be a greener pasture elsewhere, but where?

The play is set in 1991, as the Soviet Union is breaking up and the people of the newly freed countries are in the process of determining their future. What does this mean for the Rosensweig sisters, many of whose family members perished in Poland in World War II.

Wasserstein shows that the sisters' personal problems and decisions are influenced by their family history, which Sara can't help discussing during her birthday party, hardly a festive subject.

This thoughtful play is touching, but it is also a comedy. I don't know if Wasserstein had sisters, but much of the material seems real enough to be autobiographical.

Tryk has assembled an enjoyable cast and put them in a lovely, multilevel living room set designed by Amy Dunn. Maggie Muellner is stern and serious as Sara. She does loosen up enough to spend the night with Merv, a New York furrier who provides faux fur garments for Geoffrey's shows.

Merv, warmly played by Dale Flynn, is not Sara's type by any means, but he is a very nice man, and doesn't lack intelligence. He could be exactly what she needs to thaw her heart.

Emily Gilbert makes Pfeni a complex, totally believable character. At 40, she sees her chances for a family slipping away, yet as consolation she has the talent to help people through her writing.

Gorgeous, the only religious sister, sees tradition as a lifeline on a stormy sea. Her family is not as perfect as everyone had thought, and she's in the process of discovering how to provide for herself as well as for others. Nancy Boyett gives her a surface bravado that covers her inner anguish.

Liza Burns is superb as Tess, Sara's young daughter. Burns, a former South Eugene High student now studying at Boston University, is fresh and alive and beautiful. Too bad she's in town only during the summer.

Mike Hawkins is great fun as Geoffrey, dancing in one scene in his wildly printed boxers. He's on the horns of a dilemma, and he has to make a difficult choice.

Tom Wilson is funny as Tess' Liverpudlian boyfriend with hair in the shape of a triangle. He knows little about culture, but he avidly follows the revolution in Lithuania, where his parents were born. Rick Brissenden is blase as Nick, a suave but philandering friend of Sara's.

Dorothy Velasco, a Springfield playwright, reviews theater for The Register-Guard.

THEATER REVIEW The Sisters Rozensweig

When: Friday through Sunday, then Aug. 16-19 and Aug. 23-25; curtain at 8 p.m. except for Sundays when shows are 2 p.m. matinees. Where: Very Little Theatre, 2350 Hilyard St. Tickets: $14 reserved; $10 Thursday; and $10 for seniors during Sunday matinees.