i had the privilege of watching the rsc-srt production of
the seagull last sunday at the esplanade. have been wanting to put this up, but anaesthesia has taken me away from it. heh.
the 3 hour long play is by anton chekhov, set in pre-revolution russia and is essentially about two groups of people - the old and the young. the old refers mainly to Arkadina (Frances Barber), a beautiful and successful actress in her heyday who vacations in the russian countryside in the house of her brother Sorin (Ian McKellan). she misses the attention once given to her, and now makes up for it by having a string of young lovers. her current squeeze is a weak-willed but celebrated playwright, Trigorin (Gerald Kyd), who finds it a little difficult handling his status.
meanwhile, the young - Arkadina's son Konstantin (Richard Goulding) and his lover Nina (Ramola Garia), have their own wild dreams of fame and stardom. Konstantin is Arkandina's son, and he happens to be an aspiring playwright. he is extremely hurt that his mother is not supportive of his work, something his uncle Sorin tries to resolve. Nina has hopes of becoming a famous actress and shares Konstatin's aspirations by acting in his new play, to be performed to family and friends at Sorin's home.
not surprisingly, Arkadina ridicules her son publicly for his work, and Konstantin is crushed. and the longer Trigorin stays with Arkadina, the closer he and Nina seem to be. Nina looks up to Trigorin and is almost dizzy with delight at being able to be at close quarters with him. jealousy, despair and frustration tips Konstantin over, and he attempts suicide.
the third act opens as a prelude to the end. Arkadina has decided that it is best for everyone if she and Trigorin were to go to Moscow. Konstantin is still recuperating from his self-inflicted injuries, and while he knows that Arkadina's decision is probably a wise one, he instead begins to behave like a little boy and is desperate to hold on to his mother. he lies on his mother's lap for her to change his bandage, and in a moment of frenzy, clutches at her as a toddler does when he's afraid.
Arkadina fares no better herself really. Trigorin tries to get her to stay just one more day, because he can't bear to leave Nina, and Arkadina literally goes berserk. she grabs his head, arms and legs and screams, "You are mine, you are mine! This forehead is mine, these eyes are mine, this silky hair is mine. All your being is mine!" overwhelmed, Trigorin gives in and agrees to leave that day. just before he leaves though, he meets up with Nina, who shares with him her decision to go to moscow to be an actress against her parents' wishes. they then agree to meet up in the city, and steal a kiss.
two years later, the old friends gather back together again. Konstantin is now an established playwright, but Nina's path was quite the opposite. she had a child with Trigorin, which later died, and when he tired with her, he returned to Arkadina. on stage she did not fare very well, and eventually toured country towns. sadly, her parents disowned her and even employed a watchman to keep her off the estate. Konstantin tried to meet her during that time but she always refused.
Arkadina returns to Sorin's home with Trigorin, hardly unchanged. while the group has supper, Konstantin lingers in his room to write some more. Nina slips into Konstantin's room, and it's the first time they've talked in two years. it is a passionate exchange of words, and it is soon apparent that hardship has allowed Nina to realize the meaning of her life, and she says, "One must know how to bear one's cross, and one must have faith. I believe, and so do not suffer so much, and when I think of my calling I do not fear life." Konstantin on the other hand, admits to "still groping in a chaos of phantoms and dreams, not knowing whom and what end I am serving by it all." Nina leaves, and Konstantin is left to his own thoughts. he realizes the sad truth about his life, so he tears up all his manuscripts and burns them, and finally, kills himself.
having not read the play beforehand, i must say that the performance was riveting and engaging enough. the play rested so much on the hopes and dreams of all the characters, that to learn of the ending came almost like a slap in the face. while i was leaving the theatre, some people behind me were commenting on how crazy Nina was, in all her naivete, that even after what she had gone through, she could still love Trigorin. in a detached way, i agree, but Nina was the character i identified the most with. she represents all our hidden, childish desires that we reveal from time to time despite our "adulthood". it's exaggerated of course, but ironically that was the reason why i rooted for her from the start of the play. ramola garia is a brilliant actress, and she played Nina with a sensitivity that did not border on hysteria, which made that final scene between Nina and Konstantin all the more poignant and heartwrenching.
frances barber played her part well with assuredness and conviction, although she didn't make a big impression on me in the first few scenes. but she let the character build up and flesh out, into a woman so desperate to find her place in life that she is willing to put down her only son. richard goulding was appropriately emotive, for instance after Konstantin was dissed by his mother, and when he went to her to have his bandage changed.
the only "disappointment" in this play was that Sorin isn't a main character, which meant ian mckellan didn't get a chance to display his acting prowess. but to his credit, he managed to turn the minor role into a focus of humour in this rather stormy play. perhaps it's the self-assuredness that he has from being so famous (in addition to his experience of course) but i am certain he took liberties with his acting that a lesser actor probably would not have dared to make. a shake of the walking stick, a toss of his head, an "absent-minded" scratch of the leg -- all these brought a little more life to his character, so much so that each time he was on stage, no matter how briefly it was, it seemed as if that part of the stage was a wee bit brighter. and i can't forget that delightfully self-deprecating, tuneless singing in the first act!
it was a good night, though they could have probably started earlier (i heard that
king lear ended almost at midnight!) so that i needn't have reached home so late!
i shall wrap up this post with my two favourite lines from the play:
1) Konstantin: how easy it is...to be a philosopher on paper, and how difficult in real life!
2) Nina: i know now, i understand at last, Konstantin, that for us, whether we write or act, it is not the honour and glory of which i have dreamt that is important, it is the strength to endure. one must know how to bear one's cross, and one must have faith. i believe, and so do not suffer so much, and when i think of my calling i do not fear life.
