'Seagull' takes a dark turn

With its dizzying array of unrequited love triangles, Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull" could be misconstrued as a soap opera-like mess of "who slept with whom," "who wanted to sleep with whom" and "who tried to kill themselves over having slept or not slept with whom." But Nikki Muller and Emma Worth's senior thesis production of the play — directed by Program of Theatre and Dance Lecturer Nancy Gabor — skillfully emphasizes the quiet but intensely personal interactions that are the true focus in this sometimes comic but also heartbreaking play.

A metatheatrical examination of actors, writers and the theatre, "The Seagull" is set in a small Russian country village in the 1890s. We first meet the gloomy Masha (Alex Ripp '08) and her thwarted suitor Medvedyenko (Colin Pfeiffer '08), who loves Masha despite — or perhaps because of — the fact that she dresses entirely in black to represent that, as she says: "I am in mourning for my life." In Russia, self-pitying gloom seems to be an appealing quality because just as the impoverished Medvedyenko cannot resist Masha, she is in love with the brooding aspiring playwright Treplyev (Ben Mains '06).

Treplyev is so excluded from his famous actress mother Arkadina's (Emma Worth '05) life that he instead lives in the country with his uncle Sorin (Arthur Burkle '07). "The Seagull" opens on the night Treplyev's first play is to be performed by the object of his affection, the young and innocent aspiring actress Nina (Nikki Muller '05). However, Nina's affection for Treplyev seems inextricably linked to the opportunity his play offers her to launch her theatrical career.

Treplyev's play, an amateur but earnest attempt at something different from the "trite and boring" theatre that comprises his mother's "stupid life," is not a success, due largely to the interference of his scene-stealing mother, who is visiting with her new lover, the acclaimed writer Trigorin (Paulo Quiros '06). The only fan of Treplyev's play is Dorn (Greg Taubman '06), the town's doctor who is dallying with the affections of Paulina (Debra Siegel '05), the wife of Sorin's crude but theatre-obsessed estate manager Shamraev (Jon Miller '07) and mother to the black-clad Masha. And it only gets more complicated.

Treplyev's play and the entire production itself are both set on the lake that borders Sorin's estate. In this production, the main backdrop is a sheet that covers the stage and most of the back wall is painted with a Rothko-esque combination of pale green on the floor and a smaller expanse of light blue against the wall, suggesting both the sky and the lake. While the action onstage unfolds around the lake, many of the most important and tragic plot points occur offstage or between acts, which underscores the melodrama of these events and instead focuses our attention on how each character continues living and adapting to the situations that arise.

The other important set piece is a real stuffed seagull, which hangs from the front rafters on the audience's right for the entirety of the play. While a friend who saw the play commented that "the scary seagull stares at you wherever you are," its constant presence is juxtaposed with its changing meaning. As the title 'creature,' the seagull is not so easily defined. In the course of the play, the seagull moves through several stages of symbolic meaning and also foreshadows the destinies of its unfortunate protagonists.

Watching a play in translation — this English version was written by Jean-Claude Van Itallie — always makes me wish that I could see it in the original language, and not just because the long Russian names always sound a little humorous coming out of the mouths of American-accented actors. But this production at the Berlind successfully pays homage to Chekhov's work, particularly with its strong and clearly dedicated cast. The increase in madness within each interaction between Treplyev and Nina is powerful, especially at the end of the play. One of my favorite scenes — and one of the most memorable and moving — occurs between Arkadina and Trigorin, where we see the great actress exercise the dramatic range of her talents.

While "The Seagull" has its fair share of tortured relationships and familiar Russian vodka-swilling, it sets itself apart with its unique commentaries on the theatre and the lives of artists, as well as with understatement and subtle comedy. After being told that the play was about "unrequited love," my roommate vehemently declared: "I'm not seeing that!" Yet "The Seagull" is thankfully also about much more than that, which the cast, crew and director of this production successfully and movingly convey.