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The Seagull
Reviewed by Pauline Adamek
Downtown Rep at the Pico House
Through August 30
RECOMMENDED:
Downtown Rep company has selected an historic building in which to stage Anton Chekhov’s 1895 bourgeois family drama, his first major play. The central courtyard of Pico House serves admirably for the company’s semi-modern production set in Hollywood, as well as providing a sheltered and cozy outdoor theater experience for audience members. The large yet still intimate space is nicely illuminated and festooned with strings of pea-lights. The inherent acoustics are excellent, with the actors only occasionally competing with the noise from sirens, choppers and planes. Director Michael Bernardi makes good use of the upper balconies, especially for the early, handsomely and dramatically mounted play-within-the-play sequence. He doesn’t quite wrangle a cohesive performance from his company, however, and the acting ranges from mostly adequate to brash.
Chekhov’s tragedy focuses on the challenges of being an artist while presenting a daisy-chain of unrequited love, rigorously examining the longing, angst, heartache, hostility and depression within a number of personal relationships. Medvedenko (Dylan Rourke) pines after Masha (Kelsey Siepser), who longs to be noticed by emerging writer Treplev (artistic director Devon Armstrong), who adores hopeful actress Nina (Jordan Jude), who becomes infatuated with established author Trigorin (Andre Engracia Mello), who happens to be the boyfriend of Treplev’s mother Arkadina (Gillian Doyle). A passionate and truth-questing artist, Treplev not only struggles with his adoration of Nina but petulantly suffers in the shadow of his vain and attention-seeking mother Arkadina — the subject of a reality TV show, snippets of which occasionally play on an upstage screen.
Mello brings an enticing charisma to his performance as the smug and celebrated writer Trigorin, fully justifying the adulation he receives. Jude’s Nina expertly charts her transition from enthusiastic innocent to a young woman unhinged by events and estranged from those who love her. Siepser is shrouded by a melancholy gloom as Masha, appropriately Goth in appearance, while Armstrong acquits himself well in the key role of Treplev.
This valiant, uneven character-driven production feels under-rehearsed; Ostensibly set in set in modern Hollywood, it plays as a relatively faithful rendition of the antique Russian drama (modern costuming clashes with talk of horses and carriages). This production also suffers in comparison to a Aaron Posner’s vigorously updated and deconstructed adaptation that recently played at Boston Court Theatre. Nevertheless, the many merits of this free show (donations appreciated) include the imaginative setting and the joys of experiencing a masterwork of theater.
Downtown Rep at The Pico House, 424 N. Main Street, dwntwn.; Wed.-Sun., 7:30 p.m.; through Aug. 31. Free, but reservations recommended, downtownrep.com
