The Seagull a New Adaptation of the Chekov Classic at Theatre in the Round Players

Welcome faithful readers to the first proper play review of 2024. As part of my 2024 New Year’s resolutions I am going to try and streamline my reviews. Hopefully allowing me a better blog/life balance and a more digestible read for yourselves. This will be an ongoing process and I welcome your reactions either in comments or feel free to email me at robdunkelberger@thestagesofmn.com.

Theatre in the Round Players has begun the new year tackling a classic with a new adaptation of Anton Chekov’s The Seagull. Having come to seriously intense theatergoing rather late in life, I always appreciate when a theatre produces classic plays, the ones everyone has heard of but that they maybe haven’t seen. Since Chekov wrote in Russian, every production I’ll ever see will be a translation or adaptation. Craig Johnson who has written and directed this adaptation for Theatre in the Round states that his watchwords during the process were “Faithful and Fresh”. Johnson is enormously successful in accomplishing this goal creating a production that remains true to Chekov’s 138 year old play while still making it relevant to today’s audiences. This does not feel like a dusty old classic but a reflection on the questions we still grapple with today. The desire to create, the talent to create, the need to be loved, and the power love holds over us. Johnson’s direction adheres to chekov’s original intentions in having some of the more sensational moments happen off stage or indeed in one case between acts. The set design by Michael Hoover is another example of the way in which Theatre in the Round has really stepped up their game in recent years. Embracing the arena and allowing design aspects to bleed off the stage and into the seats with Birch tree trunks and a neighboring estate in the distance.

The plot is like a modern soap opera not in quality but in the complexity of the melodrama. Set in the country estate of the sisters Irina Arkadina a successful actress and her ailing sister Petra. The first portion of the play taking place over a short visit by Irina and her lover Trigorin and the second part about two years later. There are ten main characters in the ensemble and nearly everyone of them is in love with someone who is in love with someone else. The unrequited love does not restrict itself to that of the romantic bend but also the familial. Ultimately, it’s a tragic tale, but one told with a surprising amount of humor. Chekov’s gift is his understanding of humanity and insights into the patterns and neurosis that we are subject to. One of the great scenes is the discussion between the successful writer Trigorin and Nina who wants to be an actress in which Trigorian talks about being an artist in a way that modern young artists will find familiar. It speaks to how not so very different we are today than we were over 100 years ago.

Performances are excellant making every character feel as if they have their own lives beyond the part they play in the plot. Colleen Hennen as Irina is a standout, playing the narcissistic actress perfectly and providing a heartbreaking final beat to the play. Berto Borroto as Konstantin shows the greatest change over the arc of the play. Allowing us to see, through his body language, the maturity that has come over the passage of time. Amy Eckberg as Nina gets a wonderful scene in Act IV where she conveys the emotional toll that last two years have had upon her. Kaleb Baker is wonderfully cast as Trigorin, he does a wonderful job describing the conflicts, frustrations, and inspirations of being an artist. I also want to highlight a couple of supporting parts, firstly Matt Wall is Medvedenko is the just happy to be noticed school teacher in love with Masha the daughter of the estate manager. He’s wonderfully comic in the way he seems to apologize for existing. The Assistant Director Rebecca Wickert who due to an illness in the cast had to perform the role of Masha, does an excellent job stepping in and plays Masha in a way that makes her relatable to generations who have grown up with the goth girl template. Finally, in a fairly small role David Coral plays Dr. Dorn who brings a kindness and humanity and understanding amongst a sea of characters that seem at the mercy of their own neurosis. The script calls for him to be encouraging of Konstantin, and sensitive to Irina, but Coral’s performance makes those moments ring of true compassion.

The Seagull runs through February 4th at Theatre in the Round for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatreintheround.org/home/season-placeholder/72nd-season/seagull/

Don’t want to miss a single review from The Stages of MN? You can subscribe and have every post sent directly to your email. To subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/

I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read roundups of shows by my colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. We also produce the podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat!! which you can access through this link or wherever you enjoy podcasts https://twincitiestheaterchat.buzzsprout.com/ . We post biweekly longer form episodes that will focus on interviews and discussions around theater topics. There is also shorter episodes in which we Bloggers tell you what we think you should get out and see as well as what we have on our schedules that we are most looking forward too.