The Seagull (The SOB Review)
The Seagull (The SOB Review) - Walter Kerr Theatre**1/2 (out of ****)
In what is sure to be the snob-appeal revival of the season, Ian Rickson's imported British revival of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull starts out with a flash, quite literally.
But then, the drama descends into a moribund morass of unrequited love all around. Christopher Hampton's adaptation of The Seagull is devoid of nearly any humor Chekhov's works typically employed to make the Russian working classes laugh at the expense of the privileged -- the exception here is Kristin Scott Thomas' wickedly funny take as the put-upon, scheming woman-of-privilege-wannabe Madame Arkadina.
As Trigorin, Peter Sarsgaard is woefully miscast, essentially sucking the life out of the entire production, and he rarely connects, as he should, to ignite any flames of passion with the wonderfully incandescent Carey Mulligan as Nina. It's actually a relief when after this long slog that Mackenzie Crook's Konstantin Treplev finally shoots himself, because had the production gone on any longer, I would have been tempted to do the same.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Anton Chekov, Broadway, Carey Mulligan, Ian Rickson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Mackenzie Crook, Peter Sarsgaard, Play, Revival, The Seagull, The SOB Review
posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, October 03, 2008
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