The Seagull
A wonderfully prepared performance
of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull can
bring out a good laugh, and some needed inspiration, and that is just what was
seen with Maria Aitken as director at the Huntington Theater in Boston. The Seagull is one of Chekhov’s most
famous productions, and has a well played out story, with plenty of realistic,
and relatable characters. The play takes place in Russia, during the late 19th
century, in Pjotr Nikolayevich Sorin’s (played by Thomas Derrah) lakeside country
estate. Through several different disastrous love affairs, each character’s
life begins to unravel. Some characters also portray the lives of artists, such
as the renowned writer, Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin, played by Ted Koch, whom lives
life quaintly, and hates being a writer, for he says it is painful to think
only in storytelling throughout his entire life, and every little detail he
sees has to be marked down, because he could use it in his next story. Then
there is Irina Nikolayevna Arkadina, played by Kate Burton, as a tacky actress,
whom seems to think that the world revolves around her. Finally, there is
Konstantin Gavrilovich Treplev, played by Morgan Ritchie, the son of Arkadina,
who later on becomes a frustrated playwright, and starts off in the first act
by showing everyone his odd play, which no one appreciates, but Yevgeny
Sergeyevich Dorn, played by Marc Vietor, a doctor who has lived around the lake
for many years. Chekhov almost definitely, intentionally placed the artists to
represent the world of art, including, probably his own life as a playwright.
This
particular production was played out nicely. The set was done in a realistic
and concrete way, and was pleasing to the eye. Act I started outside in a birch
forest outside the estate, and next to the lake, where there was set up a very
rustic set for Konstantin’s play. The set used very realistic birch trees with
branches full of leaves, and benches up front. The set within the set, felt
very much like it was makeshift, and felt like a homemade performing area,
which it was meant out to be. What was quite pleasing was the moon that rose
slowly, even too slow for the eye to recognize, during the play within the play
was taking place, it was not projected, for there were no shadows, so it is
probable that the entire back wall was a board projecting an image. Act II
still takes place outside but with some added pieces of furniture to lounge
outside. After intermission however, the entire set had changed by the time the
curtain rose, and was now an interior to a parlor for the estate, while still
showing the outside birches through the large windows in the back wall. The
interior of the house felt really like a parlor with each piece of furniture
very carefully placed, which worked very harmoniously with the acting as well.
Act IV was still taking place inside, but two years after Act III had taken
place, which meant there were some changes to the parlor, which had now been
transformed into a study for Konstantin. The transitions from Acts I and II and
Acts III and IV was done by having the maid, servant, and cook (Melissa Jesser,
Jeff Marcus, and June Baboian) bring in and out, different pieces of furniture.
The bigger pieces of furniture where placed on wheels for easy transportation,
and the other pieces where brought by hand. The acting was also well done, with
the exception of Moran Ritchie’s performance for Konstantin, which ended up
weakening the ending to the play, and apart from his unconvincing, and
uninspired role as Konstantin, the rest of the actors made up for his
performance. There were one or two times where some actors had missed a word or
two, and gone back to correct it, but it was done so subtly that it was barely
noticeable. Overall the performance and directing of the play seemed to be well
planned out, having felt very natural and smooth in transition especially with
the exiting and entering of different actors. The performance was very
enjoyable, and pleasing to watch.
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