Review: The Seagull

Hannah Hines as Nina and Joseph Illingworth as Treplev in Boulder's Upstart Crow's production of The Seagull by Anton Chekhov. Photo by Dan Sutherland.

Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's first major play, the one that helped launch the Moscow Art Theatre and provided a showcase for Stanislavsky's new "Method" is, simply, exquisite.


Set on an oppressively idyllic provincial farm before the Revolution, the The Seagull is psychologically insightful, philosophically deep, chock full of fascinating, eccentric characters, and has heartbreakingly lyrical dialogue, including several showcase monologues and profound, unspoken subtext. True to its Russian character, the subject consists of variations on the theme of disappointment.


The young and rather unstable Treplev's (Joseph Illingworth) aspirations as a writer are stifled by his tyrannical and vain actress mother Arkadina (Mary Herndon Bell), who keeps the boy penniless and powerless on the plantation so that no one might guess she's now middle aged. Treplev is in love with the aspiring actress/girl-across-the-lake Nina (Hannah Marie Hines), who is enamored of Arkadina's novelist plaything Trigorin (Greg Christopher). There are several minor characters also suffering from unrequited love.

The tragic aspects of the play emerge as the older generation exploits or hinders the younger generation, which eventually self-destructs. All are emotionally crippled and responsible for both all and none of the suffering of others. The play presents a microcosm of an entire culture in decline.

Boulder's Upstart Crow theatre company has mounted a splended, carefully wrought production. Director/designer Richard Bell appreciates and communicates the finer, delicate aspects of the play, but isn't afraid to embrace the play's humor as well. Chekhov did, after all, call this poignant play a comedy.

Hines stands out in the demanding role of Nina, Illingworth is a perfectly pathetic Treplev, and Christopher is splendid as the morally weak Trigorin, a compulsive and clever writer doomed to be compared unfavorably with Russian literary giants.

There's plenty of doom and gloom to go around, and yet the theatrical experience is more than satisfying. Moments of the play are achingly tender and actually luminous. There's a lesson here about what happens when the young aren't nurtured, fostered and encouraged to grow. Love has seldom been more fickle. But The Seagull fulfills every promise it makes.

The Upstart Crow's production of The Seagull plays at the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder through May 30. Call 303-442-1415 or visit http://www.theupstartcrow.org/ for information and reservations.