As some of you may know, I celebrated my birthday on Sunday. I've spent a load of time at the National Theatre since Sunday, as I received tickets to various things there. Today I'll be reviewing a show I saw on Monday night - 'The Seagull' - which is currently in its previews.
The 'Young Chekhov' series that has just begun at the National Theatre consists of three plays - Platonov, Ivanov and The Seagull. They have been adapted and translated from Russian by David Hare for the series. I saw The Seagull - they are all stand alone plays and so you don't need to know about the others to enjoy any of them.
'The Seagull' follows Konstantin, an aspiring writer, and the people in his life - his overbearing mother and her successful husband, the girl he loves and so on. It charts the successes, failures and tragedies that they all experience as time goes on. It is both comic and tragic and totally captivating.
The play is powerful, detailed and observes human life in an intelligent and yet accessible way. The characters are emotional and highly developed which allows the audience to connect with them and so in turn, the play's action.
The production at the National is, in my opinion, outstanding. Having been to see a few less than amazing productions recently, which I haven't reviewed, I hoped that this would be great. It was - it reminded me why I fell in love with the theatre in the first place.
The set design is completely stunning, innovative and detailed - I am in awe of the talent of everyone involved in its construction and design. The lake on stage, the trees, the house, the little details like reeds, are all so beautifully crafted and look as though they have just been found and put on stage. It creates the perfect backdrop for the action.
The cast work very well together and truly succeed in bringing the characters to life. My stand out performers were Joshua James (Konstantin), Anna Chancellor (Irina Nikolaevna Arkadina), Peter Egan (Sorin), Olivia Vinall (Nina) and Adrian Lukis (Evgeny Dorn) - it was really difficult to choose favourite performers for this, actually, which is definitely a good sign.
I'm very happy to give five stars to 'The Seagull' - it is an excellent production in every way and I would highly recommend going to see it.
You can find more information about the show, the theatre and tickets here.
Have a show-stopping and spectacular day!
GingerSnaps xxx
'The Seagull' follows Konstantin, an aspiring writer, and the people in his life - his overbearing mother and her successful husband, the girl he loves and so on. It charts the successes, failures and tragedies that they all experience as time goes on. It is both comic and tragic and totally captivating.
The production at the National is, in my opinion, outstanding. Having been to see a few less than amazing productions recently, which I haven't reviewed, I hoped that this would be great. It was - it reminded me why I fell in love with the theatre in the first place.
The set design is completely stunning, innovative and detailed - I am in awe of the talent of everyone involved in its construction and design. The lake on stage, the trees, the house, the little details like reeds, are all so beautifully crafted and look as though they have just been found and put on stage. It creates the perfect backdrop for the action.
The cast work very well together and truly succeed in bringing the characters to life. My stand out performers were Joshua James (Konstantin), Anna Chancellor (Irina Nikolaevna Arkadina), Peter Egan (Sorin), Olivia Vinall (Nina) and Adrian Lukis (Evgeny Dorn) - it was really difficult to choose favourite performers for this, actually, which is definitely a good sign.
I'm very happy to give five stars to 'The Seagull' - it is an excellent production in every way and I would highly recommend going to see it.
You can find more information about the show, the theatre and tickets here.
Thanks for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it.
Have you seen a play from the Young Chekhov series? Do you have any theatre recommendations for me? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments below.
I'll speak to you all soon.
Have a show-stopping and spectacular day!
GingerSnaps xxx
i'm happy you enjoyed your birthday treats :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, I really did! GingerSnaps xxx
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