THE SEAGULL Bristol Old Vic
THE SEAGULL – Anton Chekhov, a version by Tom Stoppard
Bristol Old Vic
Running Time: 2 ½ hours
Review by Stewart McGill, 10th November 2005
Genuinely funny - impressive at times - but you can't take the tragedy seriously
Robert Bowman directs Tom Stoppard’s version of Chekhov’s The Seagull in a brave production that has much to commend. For starters it is genuinely funny and rarely have I laughed so much at the assembled characters by the lake to watch new theatre being made by Konstantin! Chekhov would probably have enjoyed this as he felt his work was too often taken far too seriously by directors and critics. Generations of drama students have discovered Chekhov through the realist/naturalist practices of Stanislavski and so much baggage now seems attached to each work that the joy of discovering Chekhov is often lost.
This is not a great Seagull and despite a really good ensemble of actors the final act drags and the ending – really the shock factor – is totally lost. So much for playing the comedy – no one takes the tragedy seriously!
Certainly it’s an impressive affair with effective and detailed scenic design by Anthony Macilwaine and lighting by Ben Ormerod effectively suggesting the lakeside and county estate. In a season of bold and economic design this was, at times, a little too precise. Strange mixtures of dialects do not help although I loved Siwan Morris’s Masha looking like an Edgar Alan Poe soul in torment drifting through the mists of the lake… superb.
It’s an evening with fine moments, Annabelle Apsion’s Arkadina gives a strong physical performance dominating everyone in sight whilst Richard Henders Konstantin is effectively doomed from the start. His attempt as making new theatre embarrassingly, a real disaster, he will not be making work at Moscow Arts Theatre next season!
For Chekhov enthusiasts, worth catching and as with everything at Bristol Old Vic a strong attempt to reconsider the play and deliver a fresh approach. If ultimately it fails, there are many highlights along the way… I did get really fed up with the mad-fiddler Yakov and by the interval could cheerfully have thrown him in the lake… no offence to Helmut Scholz who is a fine South Bank busker but there one can listen and walk on – here he fiddles ‘sans intermission’!
Cast: Arkadina: Annabelle Apsion, Nina: Elaine Symons, Shamreav: John Pierce Jones, Sorin: Peter Ellis, Konstantin: Richard Henders, Trigorin: Scott Handy, Medvedenko: Simon Nehan, Dorn: Simon Shepherd, Masha: Siwan Morris, Polina: Judith Humphreys, Yakov: Helmut Scholz, Housemaid: Michelle Lukes, Cook: Nick Whitley.
Creative Team: Director: Robert Bowman, Designer:Anthony Macilwaine, Lighting Designer: Ben Ormerod, Composer: Simon Allen, Sound Designer: Jason Barnes.
2005-11-11 20:40:10