It’s a Chekhov play, so ….. Everyone is in love with the wrong person. Everyone is unhappy. People live in the country but yearn to live in the city. The time is indeterminate and the dialog is modernized. But it’s still Chekhov, so everyone is miserable.
I’m quoting myself in the paragraph above—from the last time I saw The Seagull. But it applies to the new production by Red Theater, adapted and directed by Ian Maryfield. It’s a lively and intense performance, so the audience isn’t miserable, just the characters on stage.
The Seagull begins with Masha (Magdalena Dalzell) and Medvedenko (Ben Murphy) on the lawn at a country home. He longs for her and she doesn’t love him. He apologizes for his pitiful teacher’s salary and says “I understand. I’ve no money and a large family to support. Who’d want to marry a man like that?” When Medvedenko asks her why she always wears black, Masha says, “I’m in mourning for my life. I’m unhappy.” (Of course, she loves someone else, as we learn later.)
The first act centers around the presentation in the garden of an experimental play by Konstantin/Kostya (Kason Chesky). It doesn’t start well and he cancels the performance abruptly. What smarts are the caustic comments from his mother, the famous actress Arkadina (Anne Sheridan Smith), who doesn’t appreciate Kostya’s efforts at modernist theater. She’s in love with the writer Boris Trigorin (Josh Razavi), a successful writer who struggles with the creation of his next work. He constantly scribbles words in his pocket notebook.
The character Sorin (Chuck Munro), Arkadina’s brother, is a retired government official and owner of the country estate; his health is failing. He’s in his early 60s and says he wishes he had been able to stay in the city in his retirement. Life is more lively there. “The tragedy of my life…. Women never liked me,” he tells his nephew Kostya. In the first act, he walks with a cane, but in a later act, he’s in a wheelchair.
Kostya is desperately in love with Nina and brings her a seagull he has shot, as a token of his love. (He drops the bloody bird in front of her with an unfortunate thud.) Nina tells him “You speak… unintelligibly, in symbols or something. I assume this seagull is a symbol but forgive me if I don’t understand it. I’m too simple to understand you.” That leads to a discussion of his new play and he says, “What’s there to understand? You didn’t like my play, you despise my inspiration, you think I’m mediocre and worthless just like everyone else.” Trigorin enters and Kostya, a jealous man, exits.
Nina and Trigorin’s scene previews the course of the play. As they linger near the beautiful lakeshore, he says he’s happy to meet a woman who is young and interesting. Nina asks him about the life of a writer. The writer’s life is not easy, he explains in a poetic monologue. He’s never sure he is famous and he dislikes each new work once it’s in print. She replies that she understands; she very much wants to be an actress and she knows it will not be an easy life. Nina is in love with him and Trigorin loves her, even though he’s Arkadina’s lover.
The scenic backdrop for the simple stage setting at Red Theater is a wall-size landscape scene. Director Maryfield says in his program note that the image is a recreation of the painting “Wood Lake” by the 19th century Russian painter Isaac Levitan—who was Chekhov’s good friend.
Maryfield’s direction is smooth and well-paced through most of the play; however, the first act drags a bit and could perhaps be trimmed. The cast of 11 never overwhelms the stage area (surrounded by seating on three sides). The cast is uniformly strong with special emotional warmth in the performances by Chesky as Kostya, Herb as Nina and Ravazi as Trigorin.
Scenic design by Hunter Cole benefits by Brenden Marble’s sensitive lighting. Props, including that bloody seagull, are by Suzanne Barnes. Original music composed and performed by Jonathan Hannau provides a moody, but never intrusive, soundscape. Sound design is by Kate Schnetzer. Maggie McGlenn is costume designer. Tessa Huber is stage manager.
The Seagull was the first of Anton Chekhov’s four classic plays; he was a practicing physician and also wrote dozens of short stories. He died in 1904 at age 44 after a long bout with tuberculosis. The Seagull has had many adaptations, including Steppenwolf’s 2022 staging, the 2018 film starring Saoirse Ronan, an indie rock musical at the Oak Park Festival Theatre in 2023, and Stupid Fucking Bird, a delightful dramatic comedy by Aaron Posner, produced here in 2015.
The Seagull by Red Theatre continues through March 15 at the Edge Off Broadway, 1133 W. Catalpa Ave. Running time is about 2.25 hours including an intermission. See this link for tickets and more information.
For more information on this and other productions, see theatreinchicago.com.
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