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photo by Candace Brown
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It took nine months of work
for this masterpiece to be ready open at ACT—A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle on Jan.
25. It did so with a waterfront scene where two men and a woman in folk
costumes warmed up on violin, accordion, and guitar. Add to this the realistic sounds
of gulls, symbolizing a fresh cry of new life for a play first staged in 1896. But
life is short. The show runs Thursdays through Sundays, ending on Feb. 10,
2013, in ACT's Falls Theatre and tickets could disappear.
The current
production developed from a workshop called The Seagull Project, driven by a
group that describes itself this way: “We
are a company of theater artists committed to staging vital and enduring work
through long term exploration in our rehearsal process, and creating a uniquely
prepared and cohesive ensemble.”
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| Cast with Piano Photo: LaRae Lobdell |
Ten of
Seattle’s finest veteran actors—among them John Bogar, Peter Crook, Julie Briskman, Brandon J Simmons, and Mark Jenkins—and
an outstanding artistic team devoted nine
months of their lives to weekly sessions
filled with intense study and seemingly endless rehearsals. Their shared love
of Chekhov’s work—The Seagull in
particular—brought them together and bound them all to a common goal.
The project
also received support from Chap and Eve Alvord, Brad and Linda Fowler, and ACT.
The Central Heating Lab at ACT, self-described
as “an incubator and catalyst for new
works,” stayed true to its mission here.
The play
takes place on a lakeside country estate in Russia before the revolution and examines
how its characters, although distinctly different from each other, share common
curses. They suffer from unrequited love, total self-absorption, bad decisions,
and the inability to find satisfaction in their lives. Director John Langs
masterfully wove the talents of his actors into Chekhov’s vision, to
create a timeless tapestry of human interactions, longings, and insecurities.
Julie Briskman, as the middle-aged but youth-obsessed actress Irina Arkadina,
impressed me most of all. I loved watching her character’s expressions and the
way she revealed jealousy and vulnerability with so much subtlety and finesse,
even while publically fanning the embers of her former fame.
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| Julie Briskman, Peter Crook, Hannah Victoria Franklin Photo: Chris Bennion |
Brandon J.Simmons, portrayed her son, Konstantin, a troubled and frustrated young
playwright who rejects the established forms of his art and seeks the new,
resulting in Irina’s ridicule. Simmons and Briskman deftly handled the
complicated dynamics of a destructive mother/son relationship, fraught with
equal parts of attachment and rivalry.
Although
Konstantin’s need for attention and dramatic behavior seemed excessive at
times, Simmons portrayed this disturbed and difficult character so
realistically that the character haunted me. I felt the tension created every time he stepped onto the stage even while his complexities drew me in. I won’t
forget him.+(800x533).jpg) |
| Alexandra Tavares and Brandon Simmons Photo: Chris Bennion |
John Bogar, as Irina’s trophy lover, the successful writer Trigorin, succeeded well in his role as a man both charming and morally weak, and he delivered a long speech with great eloquence. Alexandra Traveres, as Nina, the innocent girl from a neighboring estate who tragically falls in love with Trigorin (even while Konstantin falls tragically in love with her) dreams of a life in the theater. Traveres, was faced with the challenge of being a highly skilled actress playing the part of a not-so-skilled actress, which felt schizophrenic at times, but she had many moments of brilliance that provided dramatic impact.
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| John Bogar and Alexandra Tavares Photo: Chris Bennion |
Hannah VictoriaFranklin gave a fine performance in the role of Masha, the estate manager’s
daughter, hopelessly in love with Konstantin, who pays her no mind. I enjoyed
the way she took a character easily disliked for her constant negativity,
neglect of husband and child, and chronic drunkenness and made me appreciate
her sharp wit, intelligence, and the perverse integrity she showed toward her
dedication to gloom. For reasons of escape, rather than love, she marries the
poor school teacher Medvedenko, played by CT Doescher, who created a bumbling
appeal as the least respected but probably most stable and morally fit
character in the play.
Doris
Black’s costume designs thrilled my eye with her use of color, line, and
historically accurate detail. And we obviously share a passion for textiles.
The sets were simple and few, just the dock and a room's interior, but they both seemed more than enough when filled with imagination's details. Robertson Witmer, music director/composer and sound designer, and Brendan
Patrick Hogan as sound associate, created just the right moods to match Jennifer Zeyl’s beautiful scenes. The live
violin, guitar, and accordion music, though used with a light touch, added flavor. So did Andrew D.
Smith’s lighting design, the way he created the feeling of the lake shore and
the stormy night when the play reaches its dramatic conclusion.  |
| Pushing Konstatin Photo: LaRae Lobdell |
I applaud the
entire cast. Each member should be proud of their performance as individuals as
well as members of The Seagull Project. Even if I had not already known about the
nine months of work behind this particular production of The Seagull, the difference between that amount of preparation and
the usual (about three weeks) clearly showed. I felt the cohesiveness of the
cast. I felt the heft of all those rehearsals. I saw how well the actors
understood their characters, all of whom came to the stage as real people—complicated,
contradictory, sometimes irritating, mostly pathetic, but lovable in their own
way, and definitely unforgettable. After nine months spent absorbing every
nuance of the script, this cast offered delicious subtleties of expression, gesture,
pacing and tone, expressing as much with their non-verbal acting as with their
lines. (Learn more about The Seagull Project here.)
Chekhov referred
to The Seagull as a comedy, but he
must have defined that word differently than I would. If you see it, and I
recommend you do, expect a satire and the kind of humor related to irony, more
than any knee slapping, although it will make you laugh at times. Think of the
fine line between the humorous and the pathetic, or the kind of humor that
causes us to laugh at others from the safety of our own supposedly wiser
viewpoints.
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