Theater review by Raven Snook
Typically, a theater director lets the work speak for itself. But when the endearing Alexander Molochnikov stands on stage to introduce Seagull: True Story, playwright Eli Rarey's loopy expansion of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, the gesture is appropriately meta. After all, this work is effectively speaking for him: It's inspired by Molochnikov's own experiences.
Seagull: True Story | Photograph: Courtesy Kir Simakov
A second introduction, this one by an oily MC (Andrey Burkovskiy, in Brechtian mode), sets the scene. Wunderkind Kon (Eric Tabach, idealistic yet high-strung) is directing an outré interpretation of Chekhov's breakthrough play for the venerable Moscow Art Theatre in February 2022. But when Russia launches its invasion of Ukraine, political chaos ensues. Kon and his poet pal Anton (a zen Elan Zafir) want to speak out; others, like producer Yuri (Burkovskiy again) and Kon's mother, Olga (Zuzanna Szadkowski, oozing tough love), the celebrated actress playing Arkadina, urge everyone to pledge their support—and to tone down the production. Kon refuses to comply, and one viral social media video later, he's fleeing to New York, where he hopes to find freedom as an artist and an individual. But he soon learns that commercial theatre in America comes with oppressive demands and restrictions of its own.
Seagull: True Story | Photograph: Courtesy Kir Simakov
Produced by the internationally minded MART Foundation and first seen at La MaMa last year, Seagull: True Story is impressively ambitious. Rarey's Russian-nesting-doll script keeps revealing new layers and Chekhovian connections as, in addition to many analogous characters and plotlines, The Seagull's 130-year-old discussion about the revolutionary possibility of "new forms of art" rages on. Set designer Alexander Shishkin-Hokusai and lighting designers Brian H. Scott and Sam Saliba provide some lovely low-tech visuals. (They get incredibly inventive with a plastic sheet.)
Seagull: True Story | Photograph: Courtesy Kir Simakov
But Seagull: True Story, though intellectually stimulating, is also too clever by half. It’s also tonally befuddled: a political satire whose humor lands only intermittently and a fiery drama about speaking truth to power that's oddly unmoving. The capable cast works overtime—particularly Burkovskiy, who also has a standout moment as a shirtless Putin—yet the production feels emotionally muted, even when tragedy strikes. At a time of creeping authoritarianism and wars around the world, the play's urgent message should reverberate like Chekhov's climactic gunshot. Alas, this Seagull never quite flies.
Seagull: True Story. Public Theatre (Off Broadway). By Eli Rarey. Directed by Alexander Molochnikov. With Gus Birney, Andrey Burkovskiy, Ohad Mazor, Myles McCabe, Quentin Lee Moore, Keshet Pratt, Zuzanna Szadkowski, Eric Tabach, Elan Zafir. Running time: 2hrs 20mins. One intermission.
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Seagull: True Story | Photograph: Courtesy Kir Simakov
