By
Alec Clayton
Published in The News Tribune, Aug. 14, 2019
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| Angela Parisotto as Irina and Joel Thomas as Konstantin, photos courtesy New Muses Theatre Company |
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| Konstsantin and Nina (Lara Dohner). |
Niclas
Olson, founder of New Muses Theatre Company, frequently adapts classical plays
for a modern audience, directs the plays and more often than not performs in
them – sometimes in the lead role and sometimes as a member of an ensemble
cast.
He
also frequently designs sets, lighting and other technical aspects, a true
Renaissance man of the theater for the 21st century. He does all of
this in the current production of Anton Chekhov’s classic comedy “The Seagull.”
“Seagull”
features a quartet of central characters rounded out with an ensemble cast that
is much more than background. Each is a unique individual with fully realized
personality traits as written by Chekhov, who skillfully opens the human heart.
This play dramatizes the
romantic and artistic conflicts between writers and artists and between family
members. Irina (Angela Parisotto) is an actress past her prime. She invites
popular novelist Boris (Olson) to her husband’s lakeside estate in Russia.
Irina’s brooding son, Konstantin (Joel Thomas) is a would-be playwright with
ambitions to create a new form of symbolist play, “without characters” he says
at some point to Nina (Lara Dohner), a neighbor who has ambitions to become an
actress and who performs in a strange play written by Konstantin and presented
on a makeshift outdoor stage for the family and guests. Everyone except Dr.
Dorn (Edward Medina) makes fun of the play and humiliates Konstantin. Dorn
thinks the play shows evidence of genius.
Chekhov called “The Seagull”
a comedy. Olson said, “I agree with Chekhov that the play is ultimately a
comedy. Although it takes a tragic turn towards the end, the bulk of the action
is about a loving family spending time together enjoying one another’s company.”
I saw very little humor
in this production of “Seagull.” What I saw was a penetrating drama with two
strains: comparisons between two writers, Boris and Konstantin, and a
conflagration of mixed-up relationships and love triangles.
I can’t help but wonder
if the look into the methods and ideas of the two writers is self-analysis on
the part of Chekhov. As for the various love triangles, here’s a brief summary:)
Masha (Jazmine Herington), the daughter of the estate's steward is in love with
Konstantin, who is in love with Nina, but Nina falls for the writer, Boris. Paulina
(Kristen Blegen Bouyer), married to Ilya, is in an affair with the doctor.
These mixed-up relationships provide, perhaps, the basis for comedy, but I see
them as more tragic than comedic.
As with most New Muses
shows, the set is minimalist: two doors, a tattered curtain for the makeshift
stage, and some benches and chairs. The production is all about the acting,
which, at least in the performances of the major characters, is excellent. Olson
is believably droll in his portrayal of the somewhat aloof writer, and Dohner
is marvelously expressive as the overly dramatic Nina, especially in the play
within a play. In the earlier parts of the first act, I thought Thomas was
straining too hard, but as the play progressed he was quite grounded in the
role of Konstantin.
The story and the
characters are realistic with well fleshed-out human characteristics. This is a
play first performed in the final years of the 19th century that set
the standard for much of what was to follow in modern theater.
WHAT:
The Seagull
WHEN:
8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, through Aug. 25
WHERE:
Dukesbay Theater in the Merlino Arts Center, 508 S. Sixth Ave. #10, Tacoma
TICKETS:
$15
INFORMATION:
https://dukesbay.org/
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