The Seagull

Happy 150th Birthday Anton Chekhov!

As one of the leading innovators of modern theater, Chekhov helped to change the way people thought about theater at the turn of the twentieth century. His characters became more complex and introspective, his poetic stories closer to the lives of the people who would come to see his plays. When The Seagull was first produced in 1896, it was a dismal failure, and Chekhov responded that he would never write for the theater again, Several years later, the renowned Konstantin Stanislavski remounted it at the famed Moscow Art Theater. It has remained one of his favorite and most produced plays. Recent productions include two major productions in New York City in the last five. Years and one London — all to excellent reviews. It will be done at the Goodman Tehatre next season.

Chekhov was dismayed by the Moscow Art Theater’s production because Stanislavski directed it as tragedy. Chekhov insisted that it was a comedy. The debate continues to this day. Is it a comedy, or is it truly the tragic story of a young artist’s melancholy life? Is it possible that a play written over a hundred years ago can still resonate with contemporary audiences in the technological age? These are but a few of the question that we have wrestled with as we have worked on this piece.

In talking with a s student this last week, I was heartened to hear her defend the play as a comedy. She remarked that she found herself laughing throughout the play at the seemingly ridiculous choices and priorities of many of the characters. She was laughing, not because they were uproariously funny, but rather because they reminded her so much of herself. These discoveries have continually fed our work on this play. Theater gives us perspective, It helps us to see ourselves through the actions of the characters that we have chosen to live with for a time. It was Chekhov’s hope that the audience who chose to join in the play and these lives of these deeply human characters would able to laugh at the priorities and choices of these human beings as they struggle to find meaning and affirmation in their lives.

Chekhov touches on the tender personal hidden spaces within. The characters live in their increasingly isolated worlds, regretting yesterdays and longing for tomorrows. This leaves little creative energy to discover and embrace the present. We love them as we love ourselves; we laugh at them s we laugh at ourselves. If theater can give us enough perspective to laugh, perhaps change is possible.

We invite you to join with us this evening as we continue to explore the lives of those who inhabit this poetic world - the world of the lake, of theater, of hopes. We have tried to remove everything that creates a sense of distance or difference between people living them and living now. It is a classic that still lives today.