[NEohioPAL] Berko review: THE SEAGULL (Great Lakes Theatre Festival)

[Roy Berko]

‘THE SEAGULL”
gets okay production at GLTF
 
Roy Berko
 
(Member,
American Theatre Critics Association)
 
--THE TIMES
NEWSPAPERS--
 
Lorain
County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times  
 
--COOLCLEVELAND.COM—
 
In its
initial production, Anton Chekhov’s ‘THE SEAGULL,’ which is now in repertoire
production with ‘THE COMEDY OF ERRORS’ at Great Lakes Theatre Festival, was a
dismal failure.   Late nineteenth century Russian
audiences were simply not ready to accept a work that seemed to violate almost
all the traditional dramatic conventions of escapist and romantic theatre that
they were used to seeing.
 
At that time,
the theatre was basically attended by the upper classes.  Chekov’s plays portrayed their lack of
civility, leading lives with little purpose, and predicted a fall of this
class.  This was not what the upper
classes wanted to hear.  Some
believe that, in fact, Chekov helped ferment some of the ideas that led to the
Russian Revolution.  
 
Chekov was
not alone in his desire to change the romantic nature of the theatre of that
age.  He, Henrik Ibsen of Norway
and August Strindberg of Sweden are recognized as writers of the modern theatre
movement, which centered on Realism, Naturalism and Expressionism.   Their plays were about real
situations that affected real people.
 
Chekov, a noted short
story writer and doctor, penned four major plays: ‘THE SEAGULL,’ ‘UNCLE
VANYA,’ ‘THREE SISTERS’ and ‘THE CHERRY ORCHARD.’  They helped in earning recognition and
an international reputation for not only Chekov, but for Constantine
Stanislavski, the Father of Method Acting, who staged successful productions of
Chekov’s plays at the Moscow Art Theatre.
 
The story begins with
young Konstantin who is desperately trying to find a place for himself in the
world.  At this point he perceives
himself to be a playwright.  His
life is turned upside down when his mother, a famous actress, returns to their
summer home with her new lover, who is a successful writer. Their mere presence
seems to wreak havoc and unsettle not only Konstantin, but the entire house
hold. Tensions arise, suspicions grow and patience is tested. Many of the
characters are caught in  destructive relationships that evoke both pathos and humor.  They are caught in the destructive
nature of false dreams and living lives of fantasy.
 
The GLTF production, as
directed by Drew Barr, who also did the adaptation, is perfectly acceptable,
but lacks strong emotional presence.  Having seen the play numerous times, I know this is not the way other
productions affected me.
 
The pacing is slow and
the internal climaxes not clearly highlighted.  Even the unnerving action at the end of the play is not
strong and clear.  The man sitting
next to me leaned over just before the curtain call and asked, ”What  just happened?  Is the play over?”  This is not a good audience reaction.
 
Kevin Crouch as
Konstantin, the tortured son, properly oozes angst.  Dudley Swetland nicely develops the role of Pyotr, his
bachelor uncle.  Gisela Chipe has
some nice moments as the woman who rejects Konstantin, and Ian Gould is
properly pathetic as a school teacher.  Laura Perotta acceptably develops Irina, as the overly dramatic drama
queen and Andrew May nicely populates the role of the writer. The rest of cast
is also acceptable.  
 
The technical aspects,
like the production, are sufficiently well done.
 
‘CAPSULE
JUDGEMENT:  GLTF’S ‘THE SEAGULL,’
is an acceptable, but not compelling evening of theatre.  The production needed more texturing,
greater variance in pacing, and more dynamic character development to truly
make a high interest statement.
 
Sidenote:  An excellent ‘TEACHER PREPARATION
GUIDE’ has been prepared by Daniel Hahn and Kelly Schaffer Florian to be used
by instructors who are bringing their students to see the play.  They can be obtained by contacting
Kelly at kflorian at greatlakestheater.org orat 216-241-5490.
 For tickets to ‘THE SEAGULL,’ which runs until May 3 in repertory with
‘THE COMEDY OF ERRORS,’ call 216-241-6000 or visit www.greatlakestheater.org. 

 Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 2009, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info

His reviews can also be found on www.coolcleveland.com and NeOHIOpal (to subscribe visit http://mailman.listserve.com/listmanager/listinfo/neohiopal.)