SEAGULL till 4 October

Chichester

THE SEAGULL
by Anton Chekhov new version by Phyllis Nagy from a literal translation by Helen Molchanoff

Festival Theatre in rep to 4 October 2003
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Thu & Sat 2pm
Post-show discussion 16 September
Pre-show talk 5.30pm 18 September
Runs 2hr 45min One interval

TICKETS: 01243 781312
www.cft.org.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 9 August

A curiously uncertain production.
It's hard to believe Steven Pimlott's production is by the director of the Minerva's Nathan the Wise. Having brought an unknown German classic to blazing light, he with several of the same cast members turns The Seagull half-way to a turkey. What is vivid in the Minerva here becomes over-wrought.

Everyone seems affected by living in a famous actress's household. Steven Beard's steward pets like someone struck down with artistic temperament, never suggesting someone who's ever tended a horse. And while there's force in Kay Curram's Masha, her physical manner and voice suggest someone far too modern. The mere fact of smoking was enough then; it doesn't need the accompanying bored indolence which places her in a society where marriage to tedious Medvedenko makes no sense (perhaps why Jonathan Cullen's teacher makes little impact).

But Pimlott's determined to give a nervy modern gloss; even the workman Yakov shows no respect for Konstantin. Ed Stoppard makes decent sense of the part, but the relationship with Sheila Gish's Arkadina doesn't have sufficient richness; the third act temporary oasis of sympathy between son and mother doesn't have time to develop and therefore its disruption is less marked.

This all fits with the production's curious inconsistency. The platform centre stage goes from being the place for Konstantin's amateur theatricals to the action's focal point. Sometimes it's used to approach direct address to the audience, breaking the realistic barrier. Yet at other moments characters parade distances around the stage to create a realistic geography for the house. A seagull is brought on in a glass case, the one Konstantin shot yet this realistic use is belied by the bird's having been on view from the start.

Through this, Michael Feast's dapper Dorn and Desmond Barrit's sadly declining Sorin bring truth to the action. As does Alexandra Moen's Nina. By act four it's possible to believe more in her two years' acting than in much of what's happened on stage. And there's a terrific moment when she re-enacts part of her performance in Konstantin's piece of experimental theatre. What had initially been false and technical becomes heartfelt and convincing. There's no doubt she's better off without him.

Medvedenko: Jonathan Cullen
Masha: Kat Curram
Sorin: Desmond Barrit
Konstantin: Ed Stoppard
Yakov: Daniel Abelson
Nina: Alexandra Moen
Polina: Darlene Johnson
Dorn: Michael Feast
Shamraev: Steven Beard
Arkadina: Sheila Gish
Trigorin: Philip Quast
Cook: Julie Barnes
Servant: Simon Lys

Director: Steven Pimlott
Designer: Alison Chitty
Lighting: Peter Mumford
Sound: Matt McKenzie
Composer: Jason Carr
Assistant director: Martin Constantine
Assistant designer: Mark Friend
Konstantin's play directed by: Martin Duncan

2003-08-13 09:32:12