Carlos Carrasco (Photo by Miguel Perez)
Reviewed by Martίn Hernández
A Visiting Production at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble
Through February 9
RECOMMENDED
“People are tiresome,” intones one of Anton Chekhov’s hapless characters in his 1896 classic “comedy in four acts,” summing up the predicament faced by those pursuing love and mourning its loss. Unrequited passions, romantic triangles, clashes between the old and new: these are constants for Chekhov and, despite some uneven performances, director Bruce Katzman’s endeavor presents them with clever staging and commendable production values.
With designer Eva Zapata’s costumes ranging from camouflage hunting gear to goth girl esthetics, Katzman eschews the play’s late 19th century time setting for a more ambiguous one, bolstering the timeless nature of the piece. He also employs a “freeze frame” effect, with characters locked in longing gazes or distressing tableaux for a few seconds, heightening the tension or humor in key scenes. Clare Marie Nemanich’s sound plot, from the subtle buzzing of mosquitoes to a thunderous storm, works in tandem with Carlo Maghirang’s grassy lakeside set to augment a pastoral ambience that could erupt in a flash.
Konstantin Treplev (Parker Sack) is beguiled by the flighty Nina (Cece Kelly), a neighbor to Treplev’s uncle, the retired judge Pyotor Sorin (Joe Hulser), on whose Russian country estate Treplev has lived since childhood. Making a summer visit from Moscow is Treplev’s mother and Pytor’s sister Irina Arkadina (Sasha Alexander), a famous actress, and her lover Boris Trigorin (James Tupper), a novelist of some repute. Treplev resents them both, abhorring his mother’s archaic style of acting and jealous of what Treplev feels is Trigorin’s unwarranted success and his monopolizing of his mother’s affection.
Adding to the emotional turmoil is the bereft and black-clad Masha (Brianna Bryan), the daughter of Sorin’s camo-sporting manager Shamrayev (Carlos Carrasco), who pines for the inaccessible Treplev. There’s also Masha’s mother Polina (Carolyn Crotty), who is dallying with the dapper bachelor, Dr. Dorn (Will Dixon), while the modest teacher Medvedenko (Matthew Hartley) is enamored of the indifferent Masha. As the provincial Nina dreams of being a renowned and cosmopolitan actress like Arkadina, she succumbs to Trigorin and his offer to connect with her in Moscow, which only fuels Treplev’s bubbling jealousy.
As always, Chekhov’s characters ruminate on their regrets instead of accepting their lot in life. Hulser offers a wry turn as the 60ish Sorin, lamenting his unfulfilled dream of marriage, while Bryan’s Masha is a comic contradiction, tender with the oblivious Treplev yet dismissive of Hartley’s adoring Medvedenko. Garnering laughs are Carrasco’s bombastic Shamrayev, who constantly piques the anger of Alexander’s haughty Arkadina, and Dixon’s fastidious Dr. Dorn, whose amorous adventures with the local ladies are legend. Mostly silent yet still amusing are Lukas Jann and Hannah May Howard as the proletarian servants who are only mildly abused by Sorin and his petit bourgeois guests.
Sack initially offers a tepid take on Treplev, acquitting himself later in the play in tender moments with Alexander’s Irina and Kelly’s Nina, while Tupper could turn up Trigorin’s charisma quotient a few notches. Alexander is on point as Arkadina, a diva more at home on stage than with her son, and Kelly’s Nina, hesitant at first, eventually warms to the pivotal and symbolic titular role.
Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West. LA.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 2 pm; thru Feb. 9. https://www.theseagull-la.com/ (Running time two hours and 15 minutes, including a 10-minute intermission.)
