Dramaturg Statement

Based on my research and reflection into the script, I have found myself to have a pretty good insight into the world of “The Seagull” that may be of help to the design process.

First off, this is a play dealing with unhappy people despite Chekhov’s label as a comedy. Chekhov believed that it was impossible to strictly label something as comedy or tragedy because life itself is abundant in both in almost all situations. This is especially true for “The Seagull.” Yes: sad things happen, but much of the lives of these characters on their way to sadness are painted with lightheartedness and play. It’s important to not stress the sadness otherwise it may come off as a terrible imitation of life. Previous productions who have done this have been labeled as forced and trying to hard as well as laughable. Scenes may easily drag like nobody’s business (especially in the 4^th act) if this isn’t kept in mind.

On another note: a play that focuses mostly on theme and ideas instead of actual action (where that occurs off stage) it’s wise to pay great attention to text itself and to dig up all the subtext. Chekhov’s plays are FULL of subtext and without understanding the characters motives and feelings the play would be, otherwise, boring. The dialogue and debates are there to enrapture the audience and the characters are full of life and love. Because of how complex this show is, it can be difficult to keep an audience engaged and a show like this needs a strong cast to pull off the author’s intent. It’s also important to keep the characters grounded and as real as possible or the audience might lose the sense of the character’s magnitude and power.

One of the hidden relationships in this play is with Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Being able to find all the similarities can help with the progression of discovering the life that Chekhov breathed into these characters.

A pretty hard problem of this play is how to do the set and scenery. The setting of this play takes place is a countryside on a lake. The play has four acts and takes place in a different part of the setting in each one. The way previous productions handled these set changes differ. The most common and effective one so far has been the creation of the walls of the inside of the estate and then using lights and/or curtains to mask them when needed, and then, again using lights, make it look like a night sky and represent the outdoors. Also, a clever way to do the play within a play could prove difficult as well. This part of the play almost CALLS for special effects, whether it be haze, lighting or stage fog, the characters and the stage direction mention multiple instances of “stage magic.”

If one was trying to modernize this production, it has been noted to have been successful on different occasions. American Repertory Theatre had a very powerful modernization of this play. They took a rocky slash angsty take on the play and it was a big hit. It has also been successful to portray the characters in a more harsher and violent light if that’s a direction the director is interesting in going. Trying something very “modern” isn’t out of the question either. Some productions have successfully incorporated dance and music into their productions and captivated audiences.

All in all, the putting up of this production hosts most of its success within the director because of the action occurring mostly offstage. With the setting being in a Russian summer (not cold at all), in a time adaptable play, and all the crazy stuff like the shooting suicide attempt and suicide itself occurring not in view of the audience, there’s not TOO many obstacles in terms of physical staging.