The three sisters in question are Olga, Masha and Irina Prozorov, who have moved to the countryside but obsess over their dream of returning to Moscow. Over the course of the play, all three women, dissatisfied with their lives (familiar theme?), look for ways to make themselves happy but ultimately fail. As is Chekhov’s way, the moments of action take place off-stage, leaving the audience to witness the fallout of various catastrophic events and the emotions they bring. Unsurprisingly, at the end of the play, everyone is in a worse off place than when they started.