Chekhov's Seagull brings to light the dark side of fame

Last night Concordia University College opened with The Seagull, a play considered as Russian playwright Anton Chekhov’s greatest work.

Centred on four main figures’ spider web of romantic and artistic entanglements, the 10 characters explore love, fame, regret, narcissism and superficiality.

It follows the lives of people so wrapped up in fame, they have difficulty in relating to each other.

The Seagull is a staple of university productions because it is character driven as opposed to action motivated. The action happens off-stage, and on-stage characters only react to events that have occurred.

As a teaching tool, The Seagull is also one of the 19th century’s classic works that synthesizes the newly developed style of naturalism. It was hyper realistic and focused on highly developed psychological analysis.

“What I love is the complexity of the characters and as an actor or director, it’s exciting to delve into and spend so much time on it,” says director Caroline Howarth.

“There’s something about the beauty of the language and the way the story unfolds and the way the audience has to work a little bit in between that I find very engaging,” she adds describing Pam Gem’s translation.

All the action takes place at a country estate where everyone is connected to each other in some fashion. The arrival of Arkadina raises a flurry of heightened emotion. She is a fading actress that uses her past stage successes as an ego boost and justification for being condescending towards others.

With her is long-time lover Trigorin, a mid-level author who uses his notoriety to have flings with women.

Arkadina’s son is the playwright Konstantin TrĂ©plev, a young man who veers away from traditional writings to the new style of symbolist plays. However, when Konstantin attempts to present his play, Arkadina interrupts and diminishes it.

The star of Konstantin’s play and his love interest is Nina. However, with the arrival of two celebrities, Nina, a young aspiring actress, is awed and hooks up with Trigorin. Together they run away to Moscow. Nina gets pregnant, the baby dies, Trigorin dumps her and returns to Arkadina.

“It’s dark, but Chekov pokes a bit of fun at that world that takes themselves so seriously that they are so self-absorbed they can’t move beyond their petty problems. Chekov was saying these are people stuck in life and there is so much more to life,” Howarth notes.

St. Albert Catholic High graduate Gina Bazzarelli, now a third year psychology-drama student at Concordia, won the lead role of Nina. Prominent in several high school productions, Bazzarelli won the Cappies Award for Best Comedic Actress for Our Town.

Although The Seagull was first produced in 1895, Bazzarelli believes that looking through the Chekhovian lens is still germane in the 21st century. It’s particularly heightened in the actions of young celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Amanda Bynes.

“Their car gets on a wrong road and they spiral downward,” Bazzarelli says.

It’s the power of the raw emotion that drives the play.

“It’s a story that could happen in real life. All the characters have traits I see around me and I feel it’s relevant today. People fall in love, they feel rejected and they have their dreams squashed.”

As for Nina, well, she’s upbeat and very energetic.

“She’s young. She’s naÄ‚Ĺ»ve about the world. Everything for her is a romantic ideal. When she meets a famous writer, she’s so excited and falls head over heels for the fame.”

Bazzarelli encourages theatregoers to drop by. In addition to the acting, the set is designed with 20 stunning real trees that extend from floor to ceiling.

“It’s a love story, it’s an intimate environment and I feel people will be able to connect.”