BASIC FACTS
Author: Anton Chekhov; translated by George Calderon
Language: Translated from Russian
Year of Publication: 1912 (2)
First Production: October 17th, 1896 at the Alexandrinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. (1)
Cast Breakdown:
Males: 8 Roles
Females: 6 Roles
Approximate Running Time: 2 hours 45 minutes including 1 intermission (3)
Genre label: A “comedy” according to Chekhov himself and his translator George Calderon, though it ends with a moment of tragedy. (4)
Brief bio of playwright: Anton Chekhov is today one of the most widely known authors of nineteenth-century Russian literature. Appreciated not only in Russia and the West but also in Asia, he was a master of the short story, and his innovations in the poetics of short prose fiction served as models for the finest American and European short-story writers throughout the twentieth century. His slim output of four major dramatic works sufficed to play an influential role in launching a new era in European theater and--in the exaggerated view of some critics--to earn him the title of "Shakespeare of the twentieth century." In this respect, his success went hand-in-hand with that of the Moskovskii Khudozhestvennyi Akademicheskii Theater (MKhAT, Moscow Art Theater), organized by Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky (pseudonym of K. S. Alekseev) and Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko. (5)
Publication Info: There have been numerous translations of “The Seagull” published. The first notable translation, the first ever English translation, and the one I’m doing is from George Calderon in 1909 published by Glasgow Repertory Theatre. The play is public domain and is not tied down by licensing or rights.
Exegesis:
1.) Pg. 26; Non possumus: a pedant. An emergence of book knowledge but no common sense. Expressing the inability to do something.
Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/non%2Bpossumus
2.) Pg. 28; Nekrasof’s poems; Nikolay Nekrasov was a Russian poet who’s poems were deeply compassionate about the lower class in Russia. Credited with introducing the technique of dramatic monologue which is possibly the reason why Treplef’s mother (who is an actress) would know such things by heart as it’s mentioned in the script.
Source: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0624968/bio
3.) Pg. 28; three candles on a table omen: harbinger of death. In Russia three candles are placed on a dead body; two at the head and one at the feet.
Source: http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924079586594#page/n71/mode/2up (The actual book itself has a dramaturgical note).
4.) Pg. 29; “I take to my heels and run, as Maupassant ran from the Eiffel Tower…” : Maupassant was a 19th century writer and father of modern short story. He lived in France and was one of the many 19th century Parisians who were disgusted by the Eiffel tower, claiming it to be ugly and an eyesore, often ate at the restaurant at the base of the tower… only because it was the only place in Paris he did not have to look at it. This simile is used to show Treplef’s view of theatre is vulgarity.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maupassant
5.) Pg. 50; “I must go and give them both Valerian drops.” It is an herb that is ingested and has been used since ancient times to help people sleep.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerian_%28herb%29
6.) Pg. 53; “You have trodden over my favorite corn, as they say, and you see, I begin to get excited and angry at once.” A piece of English humour that carried over to Russia.
Source: http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924079586594#page/n0/mode/2up (the actual play itself has a dramaturgical note).
7.) Pg. 54; “I’m afraid that at any moment they may steal on me from behind and seize me and carry me off, like Poprishtchin to a madhouse.” The hero character of ‘Diary of a Madman,’ a short story by Nikolai Gogol. In the story he slowly but surely begins to go insane until they haul him off to an asylum.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary_of_a_Madman_%28short_story%29
8.) Pg. 60; “You oughtn’t go gadding about with your rheumatism.” Gadding: ‘To move restlessly or aimlessly from place to place.’ Rheumatism: ‘any disorder of the extremities or back, characterized by pain and stiffness.
Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gadding and http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rheumatism
9.) Pg. 63; “You promise not to play at chik-chik again while I’m away?” a playful onomatopoeia for the click of a pistol trigger.
Source: http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924079586594#page/n0/mode/2up
10.) Pg. 63; “Yet when he was told that I meant to challenge him to fight, his noble nature did not prevent him from playing the coward. He is going away. It’s an ignominious flight!” ignominious: ‘humiliating.’
Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ignominious
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
Treplev: Mid 20’s. Male. Protagonist. Son of Irina. An unsuccessful writer. Immature, depressed and self-defeating. Jealous of Trigorin.
Irina: Around age 43. Female. Protagonist. Treplev’s mother. Lover of Trigorin. Famous actress. Pretty, selfish and vain.
Nina: 19 years old. Female. Sorin’s neighbor. Protagonist. Controlling parents. “In love” with Treplev at first, then with Trigorin. Wants to be an actress very badly. Romantic, naïve and simple.
Trigorin: Mid 30’s. Male. Protagonist. Famous writer. Lover of Irina, falls for Nina. Ephemeral, day-dreaming and kind. Does not share competitive natures with Treplev.
Sorin: 60 years old. Male. Sickly. Irina’s brother. Patient, compassionate, wise and disappointed with how his life turned out.
Dorn: Ambiguous age, but considered middle age as he was “once a lady’s man.” Male. A doctor. Compassionate, confident and observant.
Masha: In her 20’s. Female. Daughter of Paulina and Shamrayev. Extremely depressed. Wears black all the time. Has an unrequited love for Treplev. Feel’s sorry for herself. Marry’s Medvendenko in hopes of erasing her feelings for Treplev.
Shamrayev: Around 40’s. Male. Manager of Sorin’s estate. Father of Masha and husband of Paulina Selfish, uncaring and unsympathetic. Likes the famous people around.
Medvendenko: Ambiguous age. Male. A schoolteacher. Boring, not bright, and mediocre. He’s poor. Has an unrequited love for Masha. Ends up marrying Masha because Treplev won’t love her back.
Paulina: Around 40’s. Female. Masha’s mom and married to Shamryev. Unhappy with her life and marriage. Has an unrequited love for Dorn. Embarrassed by her husband.
Yakov: Ambiguous age (can’t be elderly.) Male. A workman.
The Cook: Ambiguous age. Female.
The Maid: Ambiguous age. Female.
The Watchman: Ambiguous age. Male.
Non Traditional Casting
After I finished re-reading The Seagull, I realized this play can be sort of tricky when it comes to casting. Here’s what I think when it comes to non-traditionally casting a performance of this show.
Race and ethnicity is not a factor in this performance in my opinion. There is no mention of any kind of character being of a specific skin color or from a specific place in the world other than the fact that they’re in Russia and they grew up there. Characters could be cast in any direction in terms of this. If one were trying to be as geographically accurate as possible, however, and were assuming they were “Russians,” then the characters would probably be of a white skin color. Also, the characters that are related (parent/children) would probably make sense to cast the same color. It might also be strange if you make the whole cast the same skin color except one character like Treplev, for example - the only character who kills himself - then it might look like some hidden agenda to some people. On the other hand, (with the one exception) if you did cast this production multi-ethnically (even within the same family), it would not effect the performance at all and the author’s intent would be there.
When it comes to gender you probably want to keep things the way they’re written. The tricky thing with this piece is, because it’s public domain, one can freely alter the gender of a character. Minor roles like the cook, are completely able to be gender swapped. It MIGHT be possible to do it and pull it off with the changing of some proper nouns and some swapping of “him’s” with “her’s” and making a homosexual relationship in the script, but if you did a gender change “just to do it,” or even to make some crazy concept happen, and made characters completely switch gender, I believe it would alter the author’s intent and make things funny at moments where it’s supposed to be serious. Also, some people might consider it a travesty figuring Chekov’s works are classics. Because of that, keeping roles the gender they were written is advised.
When it comes to casting in terms of age, you don’t really have a lot of options here at a university. Chances are, everybody being cast in this show is going to be young… and that’s okay because, not only is it expected, but it’s easy to age somebody on stage. On the flip side, if an older person were to audition for a younger role things might be a little different. It’s always easier to make an older person look younger, but it’s not always easy to make an older person look young. In a nutshell, if you have the resources of talent in the age of a character: go ahead and use that person… but if not, then it wouldn’t affect the performance much if you cast a young person as older.
In terms of disabilities, there are options in this show. Characters like Sorin could definitely be played by a disabled person. The problem is that the disabled person may or may not be offended. Sorin is sick, but he isn’t “labled” as disabled, so it’s however the actor would take that. Other characters like Irina, Dorn, Nina and the household staff probably shouldn’t be cast by a disabled person due to the fact that their characters all have professions that involve tons of movement. On the bright side, depending on what the disability is, just about most other characters, including leads like Trigorin and Treplev, could possibly be open to said casting as well.
All in all I believe you could make this show as diverse as one wanted. There’s PLENTY of opportunities available to many races, ages and disabilities not a factor in casting at all, and the casting director could completely be open to these options.
WORKS CITED:
1.) Chekhov (1920). Letter to Suvorin, 18 October 1896. (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6408)
2.) Chekhov, Anton. "Two plays by Tchekhof: The seagull [and] The cherry orchard.." Seagull (1912): n. pag. Open Library. Web. 2 Jun 2011. http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924079586594#page/n29/mode/2up
3.) Gutman, Les. "A Curtain Up Review, The Seagull." Curtain Up (2001): n. pag. Web. 2 Jun 2011. <http://www.curtainup.com/seagullcentralpark.html>.
4.) Chekhov, Anton. Two Plays by Tchekhof: The Seagull and The Cherry Orchard. George Calderon translation. New York: Mitchell Kennerly, 1912. Print.
5.) Finke, Michael. "Anton (Pavlovich) Chekhov." Literature Resource Center (2003): n. pag. Web. 2 Jun 2011.
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