WEST COAST PREMIERE ADAPTATION |
September 25 - October 25, 2009
The Seagull
by Anton Chekhov
adapted by Richard Nelson
directed by Tony Vezner
- 09/29/09 REVIEW: StageSceneLA.com
- 09/30/09 REVIEW: OC Register
- 10/04/09 REVIEW: EDGE Los Angeles
- 10/15/09 REVIEW: OC Weekly
THEATER REVIEW
The Seagull
by Steven Stanley, StageSceneLA.com
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The award-winning Chance Theater takes on Chekhov's The Seagull with admirable results, the production featuring excellent performances, astute direction, and a gorgeous design. Then again, what else would you expect from Orange County's finest intimate theater?
That being said, I have to confess, I'm still not a big Chekhov fan. The classic Russian playwright is a bit too talky for my tastes, and a bit too light on plot for me, or at least on onstage plot. At the same time, Chekhov directed and performed by pros, as The Seagull is here, or as The Cherry Orchard was a few years back at the Mark Taper Forum, can be surprisingly funny and often quite touching. Though I'm not eager to rush out and see more Chekhov, at least not for a while, I don't regret seeing director Tony Vezner's take on this 19th Century classic.
Any play that features a Diva with a capital D as its leading lady is sure to offer some great scenes and dialog, and The Seagull has its most vibrant moments when aging stage star Irina Nikolayevna Arkadina (Karen Webster) takes center stage. Arkadina has a younger lover (what else would you expect from an aging Diva?), the handsome novelist Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin (Jonathon Lamer), and a petulant son, would-be playwright Konstantin (Dan Flapper), a manic-depressive sort whose plays are the kind of artsy-fartsy messes that still abound in "experimental theater." Konstantin pines over actress-in-training Nina (Jennifer Ruckman), a beauty who finds herself attracted to the far more dashing Trigorin. Meanwhile, 1896-style goth girl Masha (Melanie Gable) turns her back on her sweet but hotness-challenged suitor, the schoolteacher Medvedenko (Jara Jones), in order to moon over Konstantin. Add to this bunch Arkadina's ailing older brother Sorin (Glenn Koppel), Sorin's estate manager Shamraev (Lewis R. Crouse II) and his bird of a wife Polina (Toni Beckman), physician Dorn (John Bolen), a workman named Yakov (Josh Aguilar), and a nameless servant girl (Sohina Sidhu), and you have plenty of characters to keep track of, to say the least.
Over the past few years, The Chance has built a resident troupe of actors composed of official Chance Theater Resident Company Members (Crouse, Flapper, Jones, Ruckman, and Webster) and unofficial Chance Regulars like Lamer and Koppel, each new production providing an opportunity to see favorite performers in new roles. The Seagull is no exception, and among its greatest pleasures is discovering new sides to the talents of the abovementioned actors.
Ruckman's performances in Frozen, Jesus Hates Me, particularly Rabbit Hole have already proven her one of the Southland's most gifted actresses, and her work as The Seagull's heroine with dreams of stardom (and love) in her eyes is no exception. Flapper crosses over from musical roles to a touching dramatic turn as a writer whose frustrations turn him to despondency. Webster, the Chance's answer to Meryl Streep, shows yet another side to her talents as a self-centered stage star who proves that preoccupation with age and beauty is hardly a 21st Century invention. Lamer too does such fine work as part gentleman/part louse/all heartbreaker Trigorin that it's no wonder Arkadina remains hooked on the cad.
It's refreshing to see the always excellent Jones in a sympathetic role for a change, and equally fun to watch the deliciously gloomy Gable find new ways to put down his character. Koppel is a quirky standout as the increasingly infirm Sorin. Bolen, Crouse and Beckman provide solid support, with Aguilar and Sidhu doing nicely in their Chance debuts.
At his least interesting, Chekhov seems to me to be much talk about very little, and I never have figured out the darned seagull metaphor (first alive, then shot, finally stuffed). Also, having dramatic events occur between scenes may have been revolutionary in Chekhov's time, but does nothing to keep attention levels high. On the other hand, the Russian playwright does write great roles, particularly for women, and when he is being funny (e.g. Arkadina's comments about her age, Masha's doom and gloom proclamations), his writing seems scarcely a decade old.
Shaun L. Motley's gorgeous set design, all circles, arcs, and straight lines, allows for effective scene changes from outdoors to indoors, fall colors predominating. It's also the kind of scenic design that would have been impossible when the Chance was doing pairs of shows in rep and sets needed to be struck and put up in an hour or so on a several-times-a-week basis. Jeff Brewer's lighting design is a stunning match for Motley's set. Christopher Scott Murillo has designed marvelous late nineteenth century costumes, with particular mention due Nina's and Arkadina's gowns. Peter Bayne's excellent sound completes the production's all-around outstanding design package.
With this, only the Chance's second Chekhov production, fans of the Russian playwright are sure to be in pre-Revolutionary heaven. As for non-fans, well, even they will find much to appreciate in this first rate production. One expects nothing less from the Chance.
The Chance Theater, 5555 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim Hills. Through August 16. Fridays and Saturdays 8:00, Sundays at 2:00 and 7:00. Reservations: 714 777-3033 www.chancetheater.com
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THEATER REVIEW
'Seagull' soars in Anaheim Hills
Chance Theater's production brings out many facets of Chekhov play.
by Eric Marchese, Orange County Register
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The Chance Theater knows drama well, has fared well with comedy, and its intimate space has made it ideal for character study - so it's no surprise that its production of the richly tragicomic "The Seagull" soars.
After a few conventional plays, physician and writer Anton Chekhov had decided that in his upcoming works, he would create a breakthrough in the art of theater. Rather than focus heavily on story and plotting, or create the kinds of melodramas so popular in his day, he chose to zero in on character.
The resulting script, "The Seagull," baffled and confounded audiences until Stanislavsky produced a major staging of it. The 1896 play has since been adapted repeatedly, but it's safe to say no version is as accessible, or as lacking in artifice, as Richard Nelson's.
Directed by Tony Vezner, this West Coast premiere of the Nelson text balances comedy and tragedy. As we've come to expect of the Chance, it's a powerful ensemble piece that pays particular attention to emotions writ large and the many small details that support them.
The Chance is no stranger to playwright Nelson's work. Their 2004 staging of his "Goodnight Children Everywhere" was an intimate look at a British family ripped apart by World War II. The troupe is also familiar with Chekhov, having mounted a handsome, effective staging of "The Cherry Orchard" several years ago.
The intimate realism of Chekhov's four major plays, starting with "The Seagull," is complemented by the Chance's space and enhanced by the troupe's generally lifelike approach to theater. Vezner's staging rings of authenticity - the pauses, broken off thoughts or statements, small talk and attempts at being polite that mark the bulk of everyday social interaction.
Chekhov fractures his own personality into several characters. Trigorin (Jonathon Lamer) is a successful writer. Dorn (John Bolen) is a doctor. For all practical purposes, though, the intense Konstantin (Dan Flapper) is Chekhov's alter-ego. His newest play is so serious and symbolism-laden that it elicits laughter, prompting the young playwright to turn his back on the world of theater (as Chekhov had once done).
Vezner and his fine ensemble elucidate the play's examination of art and creativity. More so, they show how much of life - especially romance - involves trade-offs and, more frequently, despair. Happiness is only fleeting, while the emotional agony of unrequited love - a major "Seagull" theme - lurks around every corner.
As befits his character, Flapper's intensity as Konstantin is unrelenting, showing his craving for honesty, respect and affection - especially from his mother, Arkadina, a once-famous actress, and Nina, the budding starlet he loves.
In her scenes with Flapper, Karen Webster's Arkadina bristles (in one scene, they almost come to blows). Locked in a symbiotic, Oedipal relationship that's mutually destructive, they're unable to simply let go. Webster shows us the self-absorbed diva, although the role requires more bombast than she's able to deliver.
Lamer portrays Trigorin as a simple man gripped by the compulsive obsession to note every last detail of his daily dealings, which he later uses in his stories and plays. When pressed, he confesses he'd rather spend his days fishing. Lamer's Trigorin detests being led around by the nose by Arkadina, yet admits he's too weak-willed to do otherwise.
Jennifer Ruckman traces Nina's uneasy journey from bubbly young ingenue captivated by the concept of fame, and gushing with adulation of Trigorin, to a hardened, embittered soul dogged by anxiety and misery.
Glenn Koppel's Sorin, Arkadina's brother, is a fussy, lonely old man in failing health. Bolen's Dorn, a retired doctor, is a sensible soul but also courtly and considerate.
Melanie Gable makes her black-clad Masha's suffering tangible and her self-induced alcoholism darkly comical. As Medvedenko, the poor teacher who loves her, Jara Jones paints a decent, gentle man far more perceptive than Masha gives him credit for.
In Lewis Crouse II's reading, Masha's dad Shamraev is a crabby, outspoken peasant.
As Masha's mother Polina, Toni Beckman mirrors Gable's discontent in marriage, carrying the torch for Dorn, who tells her he's too old to leave his wife and start over.
Nelson irons out most of the play's symbolism (the dead, bloodied seagull being the most obvious), but the message rings as clear: The world's Arkadinas and Trigorins survive through the one trait its fragile Ninas and Konstantins don't have: Utter selfishness.
This fine production presents us with Chekhov's penetrating understanding of his fellow man. Most of his characters wind up compromising their values, and as Konstantin so astutely notes, "It's much easier to talk about life than to live it."
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THEATER REVIEW
The Seagull
by Obed Medina, EDGE Los Angeles
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Art, sex, and fragile dreams. Anton Chekov's brilliant blend of comedy and tragedy comes to life in a new adaptation of his first major work, The Seagull. Richard Nelson's new adaptation highlights the themes of the play in a way that resonates with today's obsession with fame, relationships, and the harsh realities that they sometimes bring. Originally staged in 1896, this play was met with hostility and was deemed a critical failure. However, it is now considered one of the greatest plays and this new production at the Chance Theatre proves that classics need not be treated as museum pieces, but can still have a profound impression on its audience.
Love is the central theme of the play. Love for the creation of a new type of art and love for those who we wish to return affection. At the play's opening, Konstantin (Dan Flapper) prepares to present his new experimental while waiting for his ingénue, Nina (Jennifer Ruckman) - with whom he is also madly in love. Enter Arkadina (Karen Webster), a famous actress of the stage and mother to Konstantin, along with her devoted admirers, which include Trigoran (Jonathon Lamer), a popular writer, her ailing brother Sorin (Glenn Koppel), the groundskeeper's daughter Masha (Melanie Gable), who pines for Konstantin from afar. Rounding out the audience is Medvedenko (Jara Jones), whom Masha despises but considers a suitable mate in light of her station in life. And so the perpetual yearning for what is unattainable cycles through Chekov's tragic play, echoed in Konstantin's desire to create an art that is, as of yet, not accepted by his peers.
Tony Vezner's direction makes for a swift interpretation that uses Nelson's naturalistic language to full effect, while still keeping the original time period intact. The comedic elements throughout the play balances the tragic and keeps it from teetering into melodrama - a wonderfully effective result that is neither sentimental nor over the top. Ms. Gable's deadpan characterization is an ironic portrait of humor amidst heartbreak. Jones' awkwardness is a perfect match to her put-upon situation, even as she yearns to be closer to Konstantin.
As much as we would love to see Konstantin and Nina find some sort of happiness together, it is not to be. Flapper's Konstantin is much too childish and temperamental, while Ruckman's Nina, despite her naiveté, appears years beyond his reach. It is this combination that ultimately follows its inevitable trajectory.
As the closing scene ends, we're left with a montage of these fragmented people, echoed in Shaun L. Motley's set design of curved walls and fragmented scenery and warmly lit by Jeff Brewer's Light design. For the Arkadinas and Konstantins of our present world, the cycle continues.
The Seagull is playing at the Chance Theatre through October 25. For tickets and more information, please visit the theater's website.
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THEATER REVIEW
The Chance Theater masters Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull"
Mastering a Master
The Chance Theater's take on Chekhov's The Seagull manages the neat trick of remaining faithful without being overly reverential
by Joel Beers, OC Weekly
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Russian playwright Anton Chekhov is one of the pillars of modern Western drama, holding court in the same temple as such formidable names as Ibsen, O'Neil, Brecht and Pirandello.
But based on the Chance Theater's production of his 1896 play The Seagull, his inclusion on that list might surprise those who associate the name Chekhov (or Chekov) more with the name of the navigator of a 23rd-century starship than with a late-19th-century Russian writer. Because there's very little on the surface to suggest this isn't just another play about a small group of people dealing with the frustrations, hang-ups, and assorted slings and arrows that come with sucking air on this planet.
Yet it's the unassuming aspect of this production that makes it so refreshing. Every halfway-serious student of theater knows Chekhov's name. It's inescapable. A physician as well as a writer, Chekhov approached his prose and drama with the precision of a surgeon's scalpel, revealing the psychological complexities and emotional maelstroms that lie within the souls of his characters. He's considered the most human and kind of the major fathers of drama, injecting warmth and compassion into plays that are often fatalistic and foreboding. He's in all the anthologies and textbooks. He's an icon. And, as with most icons, he's usually approached in the classroom with all the reverence of a Catholic High Mass. He and his plays are Important, Meaningful, Smart, Complicated and Complex.
Which is great if you're writing an essay. The problem is, onstage, he's also usually approached with all the reverence of a Catholic High Mass. That translates into Heavy, Droning, Dreary and Downright Boring.
Thankfully, there's little of that in this two-and-a-half-hour production. Much of its freshness lies in Richard Nelson's adaptation, which doesn't exactly update Chekhov's 1896 play, but does juice up the language and focal interest just enough to make it feel wholly resonant.
The setting and subject matter are unchanged: Madame Trepleva, a fairly successful actress from the big city, arrives for a visit at her brother's country estate, with her current man-toy, Trigorin, also a relatively successful, if somewhat emasculated, writer, in tow. In an effort to impress said actress, her son, Konstantin, has written a play starring Nina, the young woman he adores. But the play, a freeform experiment, bombs terribly, triggering the Big Idea that this play is about: How existential frustration manifests itself in the economic and emotional frustrations of its characters.
It's often said that not a lot happens in Chekhov, and that's true. His plays are about the words unsaid, the motivations unspoken. They're character-driven rather than plot-driven. Director Tony Vezner knows this, and he allows his actors to infuse their characters with quirks, tics and embellishments that make them feel like anything but museum pieces.
The most noticeable example is Melanie's Gable's spirited portrayal of Masha, a depressed borderline alcoholic fatally in love with Konstantin. Usually a minor, if not altogether forgettable character in The Seagull, Gable steals nearly every scene she's in, somehow wringing laughs from even the most apparently unfunny situations.
The rest of the 12-person cast (it's a Russian play, for crissake!), while not quite as lively as Gable, certainly plays Chekhov less as a serious writer wrestling with important ideas than as a playwright writing about real people. Instead of undermining Chekhov's psychological leanings, that collective approach underscores them. When uninteresting, cardboard characters whine, bitch and moan about their sorry lots in life, it's easy to tune them out; when it's real people onstage doing so, it feels far more urgent and compelling.
The fact these characters seem to live in real time makes their struggles far more believable, resulting in a much more satisfying-and funny-experience than your standard Chekhov production.
This success is a credit to both the Chance and to the playwright. Much like the master who supplied the words, this production works relentlessly without ever seeming to break a sweat. That's a subtle-and quite difficult-feat to accomplish, whether on the page or on the stage.
The Seagull at the Chance Theater, 5552 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim, (714) 777-3033; www.chancetheater.com. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 & 7 p.m. Through Oct. 25. $22-$35.
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